Ill
by Milesperhour
Summary: Pouncival is ill. Five years into his relationship with Tantomile, terrible events have left him mentally unstable. Mistoffelees and Coricopat try to help her, before Macavity returns to torture the tribe. Almost complete!
1. Pouncival's Nightmare

It's the story I've been threatening to write for a while. I'll openly request an r&r, I'm keen to know if anyone is keen to see where this goes...

* * *

"I hate you!"

Pouncival screamed as he threw his pillow against the wall. He stomped one foot on the blanket that his mother made for him, tugging as hard as he could to rip it in two. Various nick-nacks and things he had collected for his room were next - he picked up the small cans and crushed them in his fists; kicked over a decorated pot and smashed a glass bottle with his heel.

"I said I hate you!"

He picked up his toy bear. It looked old, worn, used. The toy had been his source of comfort for years; something to hold onto and squeeze when everything else got too difficult. But instead of wrapping his arms around it like in days past, his placed one paw firmly on its head.

"I wish you would just die!"

He ripped the bear's head clean off and instantly regretted it. Tears that had started to build up in his eyes began to fall cleanly down his cheeks as he fell to his knees, pressing the head against the toy's body in a vain attempt to make the two pieces rejoin. He pressed them together harder, little pieces of fluff dropping to the floor at his knees as the toy stubbornly refused to join back together.

The door opened.

"Pounce..." Tantomile said quietly. The queen closed the door behind her as she entered the room. Her eyes glanced around to see the damage – a few more broken trinkets, perhaps more worryingly some broken glass. She approached closer and glanced down, noting a few flecks of blood on the floor. The queen shuddered, uttering "you've cut yourself again." Tantomile came closer, kneeling down beside Pouncival and looking him over. The tom was still pressing the bear's head against its body, now squeezing his eyes shut in a desperate attempt to stop the tears.

Tantomile glanced at the tom's paws, seeing no damage before spotting his ankle. The tom had clearly crushed the glass with his heel, there was a deep red patch coating that part of his fur. The moment she recognised it, that became her top priority. "Wait there," Tantomile said as much for her own benefit as his as she got to her feet, moving across the room and taking a roll of bandages conspicuously placed in the corner of the room. She returned to him.

"It won't go back on," Pouncival said. He couldn't feel Tantomile's paw pressing against his heel – he hadn't even been able to feel the pain of the broken glass piercing his skin. Right now his emotions were all he could feel, his mental pain far outshone anything physical. Tantomile pulled a small piece of glass from his heel and dropped it to the floor, padding her fingers against the wound to make sure there were no more shards before wrapping a bandage around the cut.

"It's okay, Pounce. I'll fix him." Tantomile wondered if Pouncival was even aware that they had been through this routine before. This wasn't even one of the worse ones, comparatively this was somewhere in the middle. She shook her head before tying up the bandage. Pouncival would have to be taken to the infirmary again, but for now this would just have to do. Five years they had been together. If she had known this was what she was getting herself in for... no, those were bad thoughts.

Tantomile looked at her paws. The blood hardly showed up on her black fur, yet it was very evident on her usually cream palms. She would have to fix everything as best she could tonight – at the very least, this relationship had taught her how to sew. Tantomile could take some solace in that, though it was pitiful and she instantly hated herself for it. She found herself wondering what had happened to her life before scolding herself once again – she knew this wouldn't be an easy road, that there would be hardships. Just not this hard. Not this hard.

* * *

It was evening. Pouncival lay asleep in the infirmary, his head planted firmly on the cushion his mother used to sleep on. Once upon a time he claimed it smelled of her, now it smelled of nothing but him. He was alone but for Coricopat, who sat almost as a guardian outside the room. This had become a weekly occurence for him, one that he was begrudgingly used to. He would do anything for his sister, but this was beginning to strain. Their life had been so easy before this, so simple. So fun. Now it was none of the above, "their" life didn't exist. She had her life, he had his.

Across the Junkyard, Tantomile sat with the toy bear in her lap. She wielded a needle and thread and set about rejoining the torn head of the toy back to its body. Part of her questioned why she was continuing to do this, exactly what it was that kept her from just tossing the bear on the floor and leaving. Getting up and leaving the den, leaving the Junkyard... leaving Pouncival. Perhaps she feared that if she left him, there would be nobody left to look after him.

But that didn't add up.

Of course there would be somebody left. This was a tribe of protectors, of heroes. She liked to believe that Munkustrap would always be present to come to the aid of those in trouble, that Alonzo would act as watchman and that the Rum Tum Tugger, for all of his faults, would ultimately protect those worth protecting. Yet part of her questioned whether any of this could be true – if it were true, surely one of the above would have come to her aid by now?

Or indeed, surely one of them would have come to Tumblebrutus' aid when he was in trouble? Surely one of them would have prevented Macavity from... no. Bad thoughts. If she were to get through this, she would need to focus on the good thoughts. What happened to Tumblebrutus was in the past. Even Pouncival must have known that deep down, she assumed. And it wasn't as if a body had ever been recovered anyway... Tumblebrutus could still technically be alive somewhere out there. The same couldn't be said of Pouncival's parents.

Tantomile scolded herself again as she sewed the bear's head back onto its body. No good would come of her sadness. The only chance that Pouncival had of getting better was if she remained positive, if she remained a constant. He'd had too many people vanishing on him. The real reason she couldn't leave – she knew that Pouncival wouldn't be able to deal with it. There was no way he could cope. Leaving the Junkyard would essentially be gifting him a death sentence.

Yet today there was something different going on. Today she had actually considered it. When she heard the all-too familiar yelling coming from Pouncival earlier, a large part of her wanted to ignore it. Let it continue. Let it keep going and going until the screaming stopped, until the crying stopped, until everything stopped. She knew he would turn on himself – he had done it before – and the self-destruction of his childhood toys would turn into a suicide attempt. Part of her wanted him to go through with it, to end this once and for all. Part of her wondered if it would be kinder to let him just do it. To put an end to the turmoil going on in his own head.

She sighed loudly. These thoughts were getting more prominent.

A male voice rang out throughout the room: "You look like you could use some help."

Tantomile looked up suddenly. She hadn't expected anyone; her small list of friends had long since grown tired of helping her mend things broken in Pouncival's destructive episodes. God only knows how strained her relationship had become with Coricopat. Tantomile briefly considered how long it had been since a conversation with her brother hadn't ended in an argument, before conceding that she should be grateful that he continued to help her at all by watching over Pouncival in the infirmary.

And besides all that, the tom in front of her was most definitely the Magical Mr. Mistoffelees.

"If you're so magical, make Pouncival stop doing this," she snapped.

"And here I just offered you some help." Mistoffelees shook his head. "And I tried. It didn't work. I'm sorry." He was. When all of this started happening, Tantomile had of course asked everyone she knew with magical ability for help. But try as they might, whatever demons were harrowing Pouncival's head, they couldn't be assuaged.

Mistoffelees began to move across the room to Tantomile, but the queen put up her paw to signal him to stop. "Don't," she said quietly. "I'm grateful that you're here, I really am. But you don't want to be dragged down into this-"

"Stop it." The tom cut her off and he approached, dropping down and sitting just in front of her. "Stop chastising yourself."

"Leave me alone." She said sharply, backing away from him and pressing herself against the wall. With one final slip of the needle she had completed reattaching the head of the toy bear, and with a few more movements she tied a knot to make the changes permanent. Tantomile sighed again as she placed the mended toy beside her. "This is my cross to bear, I can't-"

"Shut up." Mistoffelees scooted closer to her. "I can't just watch this, he's killing you-"

"You shut up." Tantomile got to her feet. "This is how you killed our friendship before, saying idiotic things like that-"

"Things like what?" Mistoffelees got to his feet as well. "Like pointing out to you that this isn't normal?" She didn't interrupt him this time. He shook his head and glanced at her stomach, then back up to her face. "You're so thin... when was the last time you ate?"

That hit a nerve. Tears began to well up in Tantomile's eyes as she swiftly moved across the room, taking the needle and thread with her as she went over to the torn blanket. The queen didn't say anything, putting all of her efforts into not crying as she looked at the pieces of blanket on the floor.

"I asked you a question." Mistoffelees knew what the answer was going to be. It was true – he had tried to help her for a long time before things got too rough, before he tried to point out to her how looking after Pouncival was making her physically sick. But she hadn't listened and instead took her anger out on him, and after a few weeks of arguments he simply stopped coming to help anymore. That was a year ago.

Tantomile sat down and took the pieces of blanket in her paws. She knew that Mistoffelees wouldn't stop probing until she gave him an answer, so it was just easier to be honest. "Yesterday," she mumbled. It took being asked the question to make her realise the answer – this had become so common that she didn't even realise, that she didn't feel hungry anymore. "Please don't open up an old wound, it took me long enough to get over losing you." She bit her lip and stared down at the blanket she was beginning to sew back together, still trying desperately not to cry.

"I'm here though, aren't I?" Mistoffelees said with a half-smile. He approached again, sitting just opposite her as before. "You haven't lost me. Don't say such stupid things." The tom tilted his head slightly. "I came by tonight hoping that you would let me help you, Tants." He sighed. "I came by hoping that you might be my friend again."

Tantomile kept her eyes fixed firmly on the blanket she was trying to sew. Her paws were shaking. She had literally dreamed about this happening, that one of her old friends would come back to help her in her time of need. She just couldn't believe that it was really happening. "Really?" She said almost angrily, shaking her head but staring bluntly at the blanket. "That was why you came here? No ulterior motive? Nothing else going through your mind? You just suddenly thought you needed another friend?" Her voice was quaking, clearly her angry tone was borne from emotions.

Mistoffelees shook his head and smiled. "Well actually, I did come here with something else in mind." Tantomile looked up, breathing heavily as she glared at the tom opposite her – the nerve of him to claim he wanted one thing, when clearly he just had something else up his sleeve. She was ready to start yelling when Mistoffelees lifted his paws in front of her. He showed them to be empty, before closing and opening them again – when they opened, a needle and thread appeared in them.

"I also came here to help you sew." He said sweetly, giving her a full smile in the hopes it might cheer her up...

...it did. But it wouldn't be immediately obvious, as those tears that Tantomile had spent so long trying to hold back suddenly burst out. Seeing the tom do something so selfless for her made Tantomile completely lose her demeanor. She dropped the needle and thread as her paws covered her face to try and hide the tears, but nothing could obscure the audible sobs. Tantomile tried to thank the tom but found she couldn't, instead she was completely muted by her tears, and quickly felt an arm around her.

Mistoffelees had dropped his own needle and thread the moment he saw her cry. The tom had moved beside her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, squeezing tightly. "It's okay, Tants... I'm here for you..." With those words Tantomile pressed her head against his shoulder as she continued to cover her face, the tears showing no sign of stopping. She couldn't speak, everything was bubbling to the surface and her boiling emotions just weren't allowing anything other than crying.

Mistoffelees squeezed Tantomile as he rested his head against hers, drawing a deep breath as he did the speaking for her. "It's funny... I feel like six or seven years ago we were in completely different positions... I remember being the one crying and you comforting me, not the other way around..." He trailed off with a smile as Tantomile audibly chuckled through her tears, one of her paws leaving her face around wrapping around Mistoffelees' chest. It was true – seven years ago, Tantomile was still teaching Mistoffelees magic. Now he was no longer a kitten, no longer a teenager. He was a full-blown adult.

"But you have to listen to me right now Tants, because what I'm going to say to you is really important." Mistoffelees held her tightly. "You can't continue on like this-" Tantomile tried to say something, but her voice cracked and she pressed her head against him. Taking that as his cue, Mistoffelees carried on. "Even if you feel you can't leave Pouncival, if you feel that you have to keep caring for him... you can't carry on as if you're in a relationship with him."

Tantomile's ears perked and she pushed away from Mistoffelees, shaking her head violently. The tears continued to fall, her emotions were shattered. But still she found herself unable to speak. "Please, Tants..." Mistoffelees started, placing his paw on her shoulder as she moved away, positioning himself to be opposite her again so he could stare into her eyes. "You're not eating... and I'm not sure that Pouncival even knows you're going out with him."

Tantomile was breaking down in front of Mistoffelees. What he was saying to her was brutal, it was far more than an uncomfortable truth, it was a horrible and harsh truth, one that she didn't know how to deal with. For too long her coping mechanism had been denial, but she couldn't deny how this was overwhelming her – the fact that her tears were still falling was evidence of this. And today she had come so close to letting Pouncival... Tantomile burst out in a sob.

Mistoffelees moved forwards and wrapped his arms around her tightly. "I know things seem bad now, but... things can change. You have to make the decision to change things, but if you do, things will be better." He was hugging her very warmly, tenderly. He didn't know why she wasn't yelling at him, he had expected her to fight back a lot more when he pushed this topic. The way that she was crying now was so violent, so loud, so unlike her. Or at the very least, so unlike how she used to be.

Mistoffelees, for his credit, was doing an excellent job of consoling her with the hug. The fact that his message seemed to be getting through represented a very important change in their relationship, that they might be able to truly rekindle their friendship if she understood things needed to change. And for a while, he didn't say anything.

For a while, neither of them said anything.

For a while, things were simple. Tantomile was able to cry out some of her pain, Mistoffelees was able to hold her close and console her.

After ten minutes or so, Mistoffelees broke the hug and pulled away slightly. He pressed his forehead against hers, lifting her head and staring into her eyes. "You have to stop being his girlfriend, Tants... you have to stop being his mate." She was openly sobbing, the words seemed to be sinking in. "Let me help you, let me look after you..."

After a pause and a few deep breaths, he spoke again: "Let me love you."

Tantomile collapsed into Mistoffelees' arms, falling against him and burying her head into his fur. The tom fell onto his back as she fell onto him, their bodies intertwined with her face pressed firmly against his chest. Mistoffelees almost laughed as he wrapped his arms tightly around her, trying hard to comfort her. He felt certain that this was a step in the right direction, no matter what. He had thought over what he would say for hours before, it had given him sleepless nights just trying to get the words right.

And it appeared that he had gotten his words exactly right. He felt so good to be holding her, so fantastic that she was letting out her pain to him. The idea that she was actually accepting that things were wrong, that there was any chance that she could get better... it was incredible. Invigorating. It was every dream Mistoffelees had had for weeks.

Tantomile gasped as she turned her head to the side, she felt completely weak and exhausted, these tears felt extraordinarily cathartic. What Mistoffelees had just said... she hadn't heard the word 'love' said like that in almost two years. Ever since Pouncival's mind started turning, everything had been different. He had lost the ability to to see her as anything other than a parent; the moment Mistoffelees mentioned love it really hit home. It was just different, different in such a painful way. She was starting to accept that her relationship was wrong.

And suddenly she felt very, very hungry.


	2. Tantomile's Nightmare

Tantomile opened her eyes.

She was standing alone in a long, dark hallway.

On either side of her she could see a series of iron bars. As she blinked and looked around, it began to dawn on her that this was like a human prison – with cells on either side. The light was very dim and she noticed that things were hard to see. After a moment of thought, she began to recognise that this did not make sense. She was a cat. Cats can see in the dark.

After a further moment, Tantomile reconciled that she was not awake.

Now, that did not confirm that this was a dream either. She considered whether this was a vision, but that only raised the question of whether this was the past, present or future. Would this be literal or metaphorical? She briefly considered that the prison cells may represent her relationship, but that didn't add up.

Not with Mistoffelees back in her life. That called for a happy thought. This hallway... was not happy. It didn't look happy. It didn't fell happy. It didn't _smell_ happy. No, it smelt of disease and decay, of rotting bones and foul illness, of what she knew death to smell like. And she did not like it.

Tantomile began to walk forwards. As she walked by the cells, the vertical iron bars began to distort. Horizontal bars began to join them and they merged, forming giant cages on either side of her. Her heart pounded as she bit her lip – she had a somewhat rational fear of cages. If this was a dream, it was a nightmare. If it was a vision, she had to keep walking forwards.

Cages had scared Tantomile ever since she was a kitten. Her and Coricopat had been bought by a human who kept them in a cage. She never understood why someone would do something like that to them – they had discovered their magical powers as a way to escape the cage and escape the human, eventually finding the love of those in the Junkyard. She held on to that thought. Happy thoughts were the way to get through something like this.

As she continued along the hallway, things got worse. The cages enlarged and their doors swung open. Unfamiliar, otherworldly voices began to call out from inside the cages, suggesting that she enter. The queen shook her head 'no' and kept walking, determined not to be scared by this. She kept thinking of the Junkyard, of the great warm outside and faces of those she knew. Why did it have to be cages.

"I'm not scared." Tantomile said loudly, as much for her own benefit as anyone else who may have been there. "Whoever you are, I just want you to know that you don't scare me." She continued walking. The voices inside the cages were getting louder, though there was no clear indication of their actual source.

The doors slammed shut. Tantomile shrieked and froze to the spot.

This didn't add up. There was no way this was a nightmare, she was now convinced of that. This was a vision – so why was it trying to scare her so much? A thought flashed through her mind briefly, but the queen tried not to dwell on it. It felt as though someone was doing this to her, as if another magical cat was controlling the area.

Worse still, as she looked around, a realisation began to sink in. Those doors around her had not been leading into cages... they had been leading out. She was not outside a group of cages at all – she was inside one big one. Tantomile ran to the cage and hammered her fists on the door. Nothing happened. Her heart began to pound harder. Now she was petrified. Trapped inside a huge cage... it could be worse. The cage could be small, she could be squashed inside like when she was a kitten. This could be worse.

She drew a deep breath. This was a vision. Someone was playing a terrible, terrible trick on her.

"I'm still not scared." She was breathing heavily. "It's important that, whoever you are, you know that I am not scared by you." Tantomile began walking as she had done before. Quickly she reached the far end of the cage she was trapped in, and seeing nothing there she resolved to find the centre.

"I am not scared." Tantomile reiterated. She was still struggling to see, though through squinted eyes she could make out one or two things. As she came to the middle of the cage, one thing caught her eye instantly. There was a pole in the middle of the cage. A very large pole. The kind that humans might use for tying flags to; in relation to her it was nothing short of massive.

"I'm not scared of poles, by the way." She said loudly as she began to walk around the pole. This was clearly the point of her vision, there would be something here. Yet even with that knowledge, what Tantomile saw next was far beyond anything she could have expected. The moment she saw it, she wretched and had to physically stop herself from throwing up.

Tied to the pole was a cat.

The cat, who looked more like a tom than a queen, was in an utterly horrendous state. The first thing that took her attention about him was his paws – his left paw had been severed at the wrist. His hindpaws appeared to be broken, and he was being suspended in the air by the bindings. His fur was deep red in colour, though the markings – and the vile, putrid, disgusting smell – suggested it was only red because the tom was covered in blood.

There was some meaning in this. Like a warning, but something more literal. She couldn't think.

The tom had obviously been victim to a torture rack and was being starved, she had never seen a cat so thin. Tantomile paused again as she looked at this poor unfortunate. Whoever had done this to him was nothing short of a horrific being. She began to hope that this was a dream. If this was a vision – if this was really happening – she did not want to know the tom's name. She didn't want to know who this could be. _She did not want to know._

Tantomile approached closer to see if the cat was still breathing. As she came close, a few more things struck her – his eyes appeared sunken in, almost as if they had been pressed in, they were clearly damaged. The tom's brow was mis-shapen like it had been hammered. Dust and dirt covered his blood-coloured fur.

As she came even closer still, close enough to be able to touch him, she noticed that his whiskers, for the most part, had been either cut short or pulled out. She could only imagine what that must have felt like. "Can you speak?" She asked quietly. The tom moved his head slowly from side-to-side. "Are you asleep? Half-asleep?" She asked, which was immediately met with the tom opening his bloodshot eyes sharply. He snarled and spat at her.

Tantomile jumped back in fear. The tom was beyond help. Death would be merciful at this point. She resigned to look around for who might have done this, for if it was a vision – a terrible, heartbreaking, grizzly vision – then she could at least find clues for who was responsible. That would allow her to potentially prevent this ever happening again, or at least tell Munkustrap and advise him what to do.

The meaning was right in front of her, but in this terrified state – still trapped inside a giant cage, now with a brutalised cat – the meaning was too hard to comprehend. She felt that there was something very obvious, some kind of clear-cut meaning that she should be able to work out, but her mind wasn't working. Her magic wasn't working.

It was that point that she began to really reconcile that her magic was not working at all. No matter what she tried to do, it was almost as though her powers had been disabled, leaving her extraordinarily defenseless. She resolved to solve the mystery and end the vision before things got to be too much.

As she looked around, Tantomile caught a terrifying, blood-curdling shadow out of the corner of her eye, followed by a depraved image that she could not explain. This image in her mind turned into roads and squares, leaving her dazed – but she kept her feet grounded and remained focussed, if this tom was genuinely in trouble, she wanted to find out who was responsible. "You still don't scare me," she said. "I've found this tom."

Nobody else was there.

Tantomile began seeing things as she looked on the floor; things became visible that weren't there before. A top hat and a deck of playing cards, no footprints despite the dust, files of documents, piles of food, jewels, milk... and as light poured into the room and displayed everything, Tantomile saw a dead peke beside the pole.

She felt like she was going to vomit. The queen wanted to move, but suddenly she couldn't. Shards of broken glass were everywhere, giving her a nightmarish vision of Pouncival the night before. Further images shot through her mind – she saw broken wood – as well as concepts – deceitfulness, suavity, alibis... the images of Mungojerrie, Griddlebone...

And then she snapped out of it.

Tantomile was stood alone in the dark room again.

There was one other cat there.

Macavity was there.

"I'll kill you." Tantomile growled. She tried to run at him, but found her legs would not work. Her arms were next, she was completely frozen to the spot. Of course it was Macavity. Even from the tom missing his paw... _the hidden paw_. That was obvious. If she had seen it coming, she could have protected herself, or tried to think of a way to end the vision. Now she couldn't.

"Why would you want to do that?" Macavity purred as he walked towards her. The room was near-pitch black again, Macavity was all that Tantomile could see. For a moment, she wished that she could see the dead peke or the tortured tom once again. Either of them would have been better than seeing a giant, fiery red-furred cat approach her. She was terrified, but the fear and anger at what this cat had done to her life, to Pouncival's life, was keeping her brave.

"You killed Pouncival's parents." Tantomile was growling. "You killed his brother." She hissed. "You drove him insane."

"That's not fair." Macavity laughed as he came even closer. "I didn't drive him insane, he did that to himself." He stopped just in front of Tantomile, grinning widely to show off a set of decaying yellow fangs. "I didn't even kill his brother." He placed his paws on Tantomile's cheeks. "And I didn't just kill his parents... I _ate _them."

Tantomile screamed. She screamed in anger, disgust... fear... she was unable to move. Her whole body was locked in place. This was a terrifying vision. She began to internally pray that this would end, she kept looking fierce but prayed that this would just stop. It was too much to bear. She couldn't do anything to stop Macavity, she couldn't even stop him from... touching her. Her whole body convulsed, but remained frozen in place as she was no longer in control of her own movements.

"What are you doing to me?!" She spat. "Two years you've lived underground, now you reappear just to torture me? Why me?!"

"Because you're beautiful." Macavity purred as he ran his paws over her body. "I apologise for having to invade your head so that we could be together, but you know how things are. I've grown bored of my current pets, you will do nicely as a new one." He began to kiss her cheek before forcing his lips upon hers and his tongue into her mouth. Tantomile screamed again. She could feel him... and there was no secret what he intended to do to her.

"You're so... delectable." Macavity purred as he pulled away from her slightly to bite down on her lower lip, drawing blood. Tantomile screamed again but was physically unable to move, unable to stop this as the ginger tom sucked on the wound, causing her to convulse and scream again. "Let go of me!" Tantomile screeched at him. "Get your paws off of me!"

"You know what I'm going to do?" Macavity moved himself to whisper into her ear as his paws rested on her chest. "I'm going to give you an option... you can die like your boyfriend's parents, as food, or live like your boyfriend's brother... as a caged animal. Your choice."

Tantomile growled. "Caged?" she asked as her eyes became blurry.

"Well..." Macavity purred as his razor-sharp fangs bit through her ear. "Who else do you think you saw tied up to that pole?"

Tantomile screamed.

Tears fell down her cheeks.

And then Mistoffelees was holding her.

As Tantomile looked up, she noticed that she was lying on a pillow in a warm den. It was bright, the sun was pouring into the room. On closer inspection, the pillow she was lying on was actually a cat, a black-and-white furred one she had recently reconciled with. The air smelt fresh and clear, the cat she was rested against was warm and fluffy, and the male voice that she heard next was not a terrifying one. It began to hit her that she had just been screaming, that she had literally woken herself by screaming so loud.

"You're okay." Mistoffelees said quietly as he tightened the arms he had around her. "It was a nightmare. Whatever it was. You're safe now though, okay?" He said as he ran a paw through her headfur and noticed that she was covered in a cold sweat. He had woken up briefly in the middle of the night to see her looking so peaceful, so to hear her scream had really taken him back. He assumed that this was something Pouncival had done to her somehow.

Tantomile pulled herself out of Mistoffelees' arms and sat up. She was shaking slightly. "I just had a vision." She said slowly, taking a moment to breathe in. Everything had happened so suddenly. What had just happened to her... what Macavity had done... not important. She shuddered outwardly and wrapped her arms around herself.

"A vision?" Mistoffelees asked as he sat up too. Just as before, he wrapped an arm around her waist. "What kind of vision? You were screaming."

"I'm sorry for that." Tantomile said as she jerked away from his arm slightly. It felt confusing. She didn't want to be touched by anyone, yet the realisation that she had fallen asleep on top of him was a warm one that made her feel better. It took away from the terrible things she had seen and done. The terrible things that were done to her. "Macavity was..."

"Macavity?" Mistoffelees interrupted her. "Whatever it was, it wasn't real. You know that."

"It was real." Tantomile snapped. Six or seven years before, she had taught him that visions may sometimes only represent things and could be metaphorical, but whatever happened they should be treated as real events so their meanings could be understood. Besides all of that... if anyone had the magical ability to be capable of tormenting someone in their dreams, of entering their vision, it was Macavity. "You know that."

There was a moment of silence. Mistoffelees then hugged Tantomile. "You don't need to tell me if you don't want to."

Tantomile shook her head as she pulled herself away from him again. It wasn't fair that she should be so close to feeling safe again, only for that feeling to be dashed by something intangible. She felt angry, upset, disgusted with herself. She was thankful that, at the very least, her mouth no longer tasted of Macavity. At least she didn't have to listen to him anymore.

Suddenly the realisation hit.

Tantomile broke the embrace. "Tumblebrutus is alive."

Mistoffelees' eyes widened. He struggled to believe that – the scene in Pouncival's parents' den two years ago when all of this began... was nothing short of brutal, as he recalled it. Blood, bones... there was no way that anyone had left there alive. "He can't be." Mistoffelees said simply.

"Yet he is." Tantomile nodded her head. "Macavity told me so. He may not have meant to, but he told me." She was breathing heavily. It was all so fresh still, the thought of that ginger cat with his paws all over her... it made her feel sick to the stomach, it made her want to rip out all of her fur to just get his imaginary scent off of her. She could still smell it, even though she knew that was impossible. "He was taunting me, but he said Tumblebrutus was alive... in my vision, I saw a beaten cat. I... don't want to describe it."

Mistoffelees nodded as Tantomile continued speaking. She added: "I think Macavity has been keeping Tumblebrutus as... as some kind of pet. Or a trophy. I don't know." Her voice cracked. This was abhorrent. "If he is alive, we have to save him, we have to stop..." She wretched again and turned her head to the side. The ideas alone were awful.

But that image.

That mental image of the cat that she saw, tied to that pole. Severed paw, blood-stained fur and broken ankles, clearly tortured and starved and... Macavity touching her, molesting her...

Tantomile scampered to her feet and made it halfway across the room before falling to her knees and vomiting into the bucket in the corner. The violent visual images that had started pouring down on her finally came to a head and she felt the brutal reality of what she had seen. If those visions were true, and she had no reason to doubt them, it was too much to bear. She felt the pain of that sight with every wretch as she vomited and spat the remnants from her mouth.

Mistoffelees was quickly by her side, rubbing her back and telling her that things would be fine, things would work out. But internally he considered how impossible and unlikely that would be. If this were all true... he didn't want to consider it. It was somehow nicer to imagine that Tumblebrutus had died with his parents and was now with them somewhere under the gaze of the Everlasting Cat.

Not this. Not as a slave to Macavity.

"Are you okay?" Mistoffelees asked as he held her, feeling Tantomile again respond by pulling away slightly. "What happened? What's wrong? You have to tell me-"

"Macavity." Tantomile said as she stared down at the vomit that she had just produced. That smell suddenly felt apt. She shuddered again. "He tried to rape me-" Mistoffelees suddenly grabbed her and held her tightly in his arms.

"You're safe." He kissed the top of her head. Tantomile tried to pull away but he wouldn't let go. She struggled slightly as he tightened his grip, holding her until she stopped trying to pull away from him. "I'll kill him." The young tom had real fire in his voice. "For everything he's done, I will find him and I will kill him."

It took a while for her struggling to stop, for Tantomile to become able to relax into Mistoffelees' embrace. It was no doubt made a lot easier by her vomiting, matched with the fact that she hadn't eaten in over a day and a half. Now she really, genuinely needed to eat.

Time passed with neither of them saying anything. Mistoffelees had sounded so determined, but both of them knew that those were slightly empty threats. That vision was the first time anyone had seen Macavity since he was seen escaping the Junkyard two years ago, the night that changed Tantomile's life forever. The night that he killed two cats and apparently kidnapped another.

After a while, the silence was broken by Tantomile's stomach grumbling. It caused both of them to laugh at the ridiculousness of it all. "I'm sorry." Tantomile said as she looked up at Mistoffelees. She felt safe in his arms. What she had seen in her vision, and what Macavity had tried to do to her, would haunt her for a while. She knew internally that she would struggle to be comfortable when anyone tried to touch her for a long time. But she also knew that Mistoffelees made her feel safe.

It was complicated.

"Stop telling me that you're sorry." Mistoffelees said as he held her. She felt like a dead weight, completely rested against his small frame. His paws ran along her sides, which made her shudder. Internally he scolded himself for eliciting that response, though where his paws rested made him furrow his brow. "I can feel your ribs." He said. "You're starving yourself. I've had enough."

Mistoffelees let go of Tantomile and stood up. She looked up at him, obviously shaken and looking almost as if she was about to cry. But the tom took her paws and helped her to her feet as well. As they stood, Mistoffelees did not let go of her paws. Tantomile noticed, and though she thought about saying something she didn't. They just stood there, holding paws.

Then Mistoffelees spoke. "I'm going to take you somewhere, and I'm going to watch you eat until I'm satisfied that you've had enough." He had a half-smile, but he was quite clearly serious. She looked crestfallen, this was demeaning. "I can't watch you starve yourself. You know that I love you too much to watch that happen."

Tantomile shook her head and looked at the floor. She didn't want this. Not right now, not after everything that had happened so far today. She started to protest, but stopped suddenly. This conversation was too familiar, yet they had never had it before... she realised that she had had this exact same conversation with Pouncival two years ago. When everything started going wrong, the first thing was he stopped eating.

With that knowledge, Tantomile took a deep breath and accepted that something had to change. There was no way she could allow herself to go down that road, and she instantly empathised with Mistoffelees as she knew how it felt to see someone in that state. The state she suddenly recognised that she was in. Thin enough that he could feel her ribs sticking out of her skin. She shuddered again and took a step forward, releasing Mistoffelees' paws so she could hug him.

"Okay," she whispered, as she felt Mistoffelees' arms around her back. "Okay... but then... then I need to tell Munkustrap that I've seen Macavity."


	3. Mistoffelees' Nightmare

"Is this enough?"

Tantomile was exhausted. She had been mentally drained by Pouncival's self-destruction the night before. Coping with what the tom was doing to himself was giving her a mental breakdown.

"No."

Mistoffelees was angry, fired up by what Macavity had done to Tantomile in her vision. He had vowed to murder Macavity at the earliest opportunity and he fully intended to go along with his promise.

"Well is it enough _now_?"

Tantomile had been emotionally drained by what Macavity had done. What she saw in her vision, that poor tom... and what Macavity had done to her... made things difficult. It made it difficult to even allow Mistoffelees to touch her. Everything was still so fresh. She could still feel the ginger tom touching her...

"Keep going."

Mistoffelees also felt glad, in a way. Though he was full of anger for what Macavity had done, Mistoffelees knew that he was lucky to have built up the courage to see Tantomile when he did. She had completely broken down in his arms last night, she cried more than he'd ever seen before. He felt glad because no matter what, Macavity would have visited her this morning even if he wasn't there – so he was lucky, in a way. Lucky that he'd made the decision to be there for her.

"For the sake of the Everlasting Cat, I cannot eat anything else!"

Tantomile had been physically drained by her screaming, by her vomiting this morning... and by the fact that she hadn't eaten for close to two days. Now she felt embarrassed by her figure and was determined to do something about it, to stop herself from falling into a self-destructive spiral like Pouncival had. To stop herself from becoming him.

She handed the half-eaten bread to Mistoffelees and managed to force a final swallow. She hadn't eaten much, but that was understandable considering the circumstances. She had tried to eat, that was the main thing. And Mistoffelees seemed happy that she had tried her best.

"Fine. But I'm going to sit with you for every meal from now until forever to make sure you eat properly."

Mistoffelees smirked as he got to his feet and placed the rest of the bread in a container - he was only half-joking. The black-and-white tom stretched his arms in the air and looked around the room. It was nice to have Tantomile in his den, if only for a little while. Taking her to his was a necessity – she had no food in her den at all. No wonder she hadn't eaten.

"Careful," Tantomile smiled slightly. "I might hold you to that." She got to her feet as well and brushed the crumbs from her fur. Just one meal and she was beginning to feel a little bit more like herself. Not like her old self, of course. But at least like a version of herself. She shook her head and looked up at Mistoffelees before heaving a loud sigh. "You can join me for meals, if you'd like."

Mistoffelees smiled as he looked across the room at her. She was painfully thin. "I'm so glad!" He was beaming, he could hardly believe that this time yesterday they weren't even friends. To have been able to rekindle their friendship so easily, it made him so incredibly happy. He wasn't going to be alone anymore. She wasn't going to be alone anymore. This was the absolutely perfect possible outcome, he couldn't quite believe that she had accepted him back into her life. Wait, glad? Mistoffelees glanced away as he considered his choice of words. Maybe he shouldn't have said that. It seemed a bit presumptuous.

"I mean I'm happy!" He said with a smile, correcting himself. He didn't want to blow it by saying something stupid and putting their friendship at risk once again. "I'm happy that you'll let me join you. For meals. Obviously, I mean, you'll hold me to that." He was tripping over his words. "I'm happy that you'll hold me to that. Happy that you'll hold me. Wait, I mean, not hold me, I mean, unless you wanted to oh look I'm rambling." Mistoffelees blushed and looked at the floor.

He then took a deep breath and considered what was happening.

He was blushing.

Mistoffelees became very aware that he was blushing.

Tantomile laughed. "This is much more like how I remember our relationship being," she said as she walked over to him. "You remember, back in the day? When you were a terrified kitten too scared to-"

"I remember." Mistoffelees cut her off as he lifted his head and laughed. "I've changed a little since then." He pointed to his body. Tantomile certainly conceded that he looked quite different. Physically stronger, far more muscle than before... though he was still quite spindly. Clearly it was all of that tumbling that had given him muscle... tumbling... Tumble... she mentally berated herself. Everything kept bringing her back to that point. She had to see Munkustrap, to talk to him... but she was scared. What if he didn't believe her? She'd need help.

"Thank you for taking me here." Tantomile smiled as she glanced at the door. "As much as I would like to stay here and talk... I should go. I need to speak to Munkustrap-"

"I'll come with you." Mistoffelees interrupted. "I haven't got any plans."

"You've already done too much for me." Tantomile shook her head at him. "If you do much more, you'll quickly regret befriending me again."

Mistoffelees shot her a frustrated look. "Stop saying things like that," he snapped. "You'll start to believe it."

"I do believe it." Tantomile said with a grunt as she kicked the ground. "If you keep hanging around me and offering to do all these things for me, you'll remember why we stopped talking in the first place."

Mistoffelees shook his head at her. "Do you want to just talk for a little while?" He asked, but stopped as he saw Tantomile turn and walk back over to the middle of the den. She threw herself down on a pillow, rolling onto her back and staring at the ceiling. She was frustrated, angry at herself for letting him go in the first place, though angry about so many other things too. Her head was a mess from what had happened earlier, though she had cried about it, the feelings were still there. Her fur still felt unclean. Clearly she did want to stay and talk after all.

"You're allowed to be upset." Mistoffelees followed Tantomile and sat down beside her, though he didn't lie on his back like she did. "You've been living with some horrible things for a long time. It would be weird if you weren't upset by them... but remember when you helped me when I was a kitten? Let's role reverse. I can help you now... just talk to me."

Tantomile sighed and closed her eyes. She didn't want to talk. "How about I show you, instead?" She put out her hand to Mistoffelees.

After a little while he began to piece together what she was getting at – why she was lying down.

For as long as he could remember, Tantomile had shown an incredible aptitude at replaying memories – as in, literally replaying them like a mental film. By linking paws, she could show that mental memory to anyone, though it worked best with those who already had some kind of magical ability. Mistoffelees was a perfect candidate for this.

But he was scared. He didn't want her to show him what Macavity had done to her, he assumed that was what she was suggesting. But if it would help her get through it, help her get over it... he would do it. Mistoffelees closed his eyes and shuffled onto his back before taking her paw in his and drawing a deep breath...

…

...everything was very dark all of a sudden.

In the distance, two figures began to appear across from him. They were talking about something, no, arguing about something. As the figures got larger, it became apparent that they were familiar. By the time they got very close, Mistoffelees recognised them as Tantomile and Pouncival, though things were different.

For one thing, Pouncival still had his whiskers.

It made Mistoffelees remember the night it had happened, that first bout of anger and self-destruction that caused the Pouncival to turn on himself, to rip out parts of his fur, his whiskers...

Mistoffelees shuddered. Focus, now. Tantomile was showing him this for a reason. He began to look at the figures and allow himself to get sucked into the memory, to be able to experience it as it happened. To switch off his consciousness and fall into the thoughts and figures around him, to experience it as though he was there...

It was as though he was watching a film. He didn't exist anymore, just the two cats talking, arguing in their den...

…

...Tantomile was angry.

"You have to eat, Pounce! For the love of God, you have to eat!"

Pouncival was angry too.

"You don't own me! Stop pretending that you do!"

Pouncival didn't like this. He didn't like the shouting. He didn't like the loud noises. He didn't like the fact that they were mad at each other because it wasn't fair. How could it be fair, how could anything even be fair anymore I mean come on, after what had happened, that was it. Life wasn't going to be fair anymore. He knew that. Life wasn't fair. Life was mean and cruel and sadistic and he just had to put up with that. Why couldn't she just accept that and move on?

"Don't be ridiculous." Tantomile snapped. "The fact is, I can't watch you starve yourself." Pouncival tried to interrupt but she wouldn't let him, instead her voice cracked a little as she said: "You know that I love you too much to watch that happen."

For a moment, there was a pause. Neither cat spoke. Pouncival looked down at his body, considering his fur and thin physique before responding. "If you love me half as much as you say you do, how come you keep saying such horrible things to me?"

Tantomile growled audibly, frustrated and angered by his childishness. "It's not a horrible thing to say, it's just a fact!" She threw her arms up in the air in frustration. "Look at your stomach! Look at your chest! I can see your ribs, you look like you're starving to death!"

Pouncival pressed his paws against his own chest, pushing back on his ribs. "You think I care? I don't care. Who am I trying to impress anymore? Mum? Dad? Tumble? Here's a newsflash for you – they're all gone." His voice cracked as he said those last three words. He felt like breaking down but couldn't, instead he yelled in frustration.

"They're all dead!" He yelled again as he reached out and gripped Tantomile's arm. "I watched them die. I watched Macavity kill them, I watched him murder them."

Tantomile looked as though she was about to cry. She moved forwards sharply and tried to hug Pouncival, but he pushed her away and released her arm.

"Don't act like you know how I feel, because you don't. Did you watch someone slice your mother's throat? Did you watch someone stab your father until he stopped screaming? Did you watch someone break your best friend's ankles and drag him off after promising to eat him? No? Didn't think so." Pouncival was crying.

Tantomile shook her head softly. She couldn't imagine what that would feel like, to see Coricopat hurt in that way. To have to imagine Cori being eaten, to live with that image every day... she couldn't imagine it. It was too hard. "If this is what you need baby..." she started, a few tears beginning to fall down her cheeks. "If you need to yell at me to get better, you can. I want you to know that. You can scream at me all you like, if it will make you feel better."

Pouncival was again taken aback by this. He didn't really have a good response. "I just don't feel like eating." He said sharply, his voice falling completely flat as he dropped down and sat on the floor. "I don't feel like doing anything. I'm sorry I yelled at you. I don't mean to. I don't want to do anything to hurt you... but they're gone, Tants. They're all gone. And now I just feel like sitting here until I stop."

Tantomile gasped sharply as her eyes welled up. "Oh, Pounce..." she came over and kneeled in front of him. "Please don't say things like that. We talked about this. You promised you would stop saying things like that." She couldn't stop herself from crying.

Pouncival shook his head as he looked at the floor. He drew his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. "You don't understand. Stop pretending like you could even possibly slightly understand."

Tantomile could almost feel her heart being ripped to shreds. "Please..." she said quietly as she reached out to hold him. Pouncival didn't resist this time though, he allowed himself to fall into her embrace. She drew a deep breath and exhaled a sigh of relief, her arms wrapped tightly around his chest as Pouncival rested his head on her shoulder. His arms wrapped around her back as well, creating a tight embrace.

"I love you." Pouncival said softly. He closed his eyes.

"I love you too, Pounce." Tantomile looked terribly sad. She closed her eyes too before placing a small kiss on his lips. "We will get through this, together. I promise you that I will help you through this, I will make sure of it." She gave him a half-smile.

Pouncival opened his eyes to look into hers. He responded well to her words, but was still visibly dejected. Compared to the Pouncival that Mistoffelees was used to seeing, this was an improvement. But compared to the Pouncival that he knew four or five years ago, the Pouncival that he was friends with as a kitten, the happy-go-lucky backflips, unicorns and rainbows kitten... this was painful to watch.

What was making this even harder for Mistoffelees to watch was the fact that he was beginning to feel some unexpected emotions. A pang of jealousy came from watching them embrace, anger from watching them kiss. What was the purpose of this? To remind him that she was technically still in a relationship? She needed to let that go. Pouncival wasn't even... wait, no, that wasn't it. Was this to show him something else? The memory was continuing...

"I will always love you." Tantomile moved to kiss Pouncival on the lips again, but he pulled away slightly. There was an awkward moment before he shifted away from her entirely, breaking the embrace and looking at the ground. "I'm sorry." Pouncival said as he let out a visible shudder. "I'm not ready."

Tantomile tried to speak but he cut her off, glancing up and into her eyes, a look of desperation painted on his face. "After what happened to my parents..." he paused and took a few breaths before continuing. "I'm not ready to feel anything other than sadness. I'm not ready to kiss you, I'm not ready to be intimate with you, I can't do it, I'm sorry but I just can't do it-"

Everything went black.

Mistoffelees felt a cold shiver as he looked around, he could see himself once more... yet he couldn't see anything else. The images in front of him had completely vanished, the whole scene gone into thin air as though it hadn't happened in the first place. He suddenly felt rather cold and rubbed his arms to try and warm up, but it didn't help. He was back into his physical form, it felt as though he had somehow been teleported into a dungeon. A pitch black dungeon.

Everything was getting a bit scary.

He calmed himself, assuring himself that this kind of thing just happens sometimes with magic. After all, Mistoffelees was a magical cat himself. Though he had never experienced anything like this before, he just assumed that it was a kind of magical limbo and that it would sort itself out sooner rather than later. He would wake up beside Tantomile and everything would be fine. He had to believe that, because he didn't like this one bit.

And then he smelled something.

Something... putrid. Dirty, dank, wet and abhorrent. It made his whole body convulse.

"I'm not afraid." He said firmly, turning in a full circle to try and see something, but there was nothing there. Mistoffelees was beginning to get very afraid, despite his claims otherwise. He didn't like being alone, he had never liked being alone.

And yet he was about to wish that he was alone.

Macavity was there.

"I will kill you!" Mistoffelees yelled as he made flames appear in his paws, but they snuffed out instantly. He tried making ice to throw but that melted in moments, he tried summoning all kinds of things to throw at the ginger cat in front of him, but nothing worked. His magic was not working properly.

"Now, normally I wouldn't bother with this kind of visit," Macavity spoke in his raw voice, the words oozing from his mouth. "But I heard you tell my Tantomile that you love her. And I'm afraid that there's only room for one tom in this world to love her, and that cat is me." He grinned a gleaming yellow grin, showing off his fangs as a sign of dominance.

Mistoffelees stepped forward, measuring up the tom in front of him. This wasn't good, not at all. His only form of defence was his magic, with that not working he was defenceless. Worse still, the pure hatred he felt for the ginger tom... Mistoffelees hissed.

"I told her I love her too much to watch her starve to death, that's slightly different." Several realisations hit Mistoffelees at once, not least that the point of the memory she had shown him was to highlight that conversation. To show him what had happened to Pouncival, to show him that she needed to eat too, that Pouncival had done the exact same thing.

More pertinently, the cat in front of him was most definitely Macavity. Bright red fur, white streaks and untamed everything. He was about twice the size of Mistoffelees, which absolutely frightened him. The whole sight was terrifying.

But more than anything, it struck him that Macavity had called Tantomile 'his'. He had spoken as if he owned her, which filled Mistoffelees with even more anger and hatred than he had before. "Tantomile is not yours." Mistoffelees growled. "And if you had listened to the whole conversation, you would have heard me vow to kill you. So say your final goodbyes to whatever satanic demon you pray to, because I'm going to rip your head off." He hissed loudly and bared his claws.

Macavity rolled his eyes with indifference. He really didn't seem bothered, but when Mistoffelees showed his claws it made the ginger tom spring into action. With a glance of his eyes, Mistoffelees froze into place. "You're in my domain, kitten." He purred before approaching so they were face-to-face. "And in my domain, I have the control. If I want you unable to move, you won't be able to move. If I want to gift you with some pain, I will."

Macavity brought his paws up to Mistoffelees' face. He tried to struggle, but found that movement was completely impossible. Even speech was impossible, all he could do was stand there like a toy for Macavity to play with, which absolutely terrified Mistoffelees. This wasn't right, this wasn't fair...

Macavity gribbed two of Mistoffelees' whiskers, one in each paw. He then leaned forwards and pressed their noses together, laughing quietly as he rubbed noses with the other tom. "I do feel slightly sorry to have to intrude on whatever vision you were having before. Then again, I probably don't feel half as sorry as you will be in a few minutes." Suddenly he ripped his paws apart, tearing the whiskers from Mistoffelees' face. He flicked his paw, magically allowing Mistoffelees movement so that the tom would collapse to the floor, gripping his face as blood stained his fur. Macavity held the whiskers he had so cruelly torn from the tom's face and rolled them between his fingers.

"The funny thing is, all of this isn't real." Macavity laughed as he drove a powerful kick deep into Mistoffelees' belly. "And yet, the pain is real. It all genuinely hurts as though it was really happening to you, doesn't it?" He kicked Mistoffelees in the gut again before bearing the claws on his foot. "You should feel blessed, this will end soon and you will still have your whiskers... but I'll be back. I'll be back to do this to you as long as you keep pestering my Tantomile." He drove a powerful kick into Mistoffelees' gut again, this time slashing across with his claws to draw further blood.

Mistoffelees screamed out in pain as he rolled on the floor, one paw covering his bloody face and the other holding his gut. The pain was unbearable. Yet he knew now why Macavity was doing this. He knew and he laughed. Everything was beginning to feel warm. Even though everything hurt and he could feel the blood leaving his body, it all became rather funny to him. Macavity growled. "What's so funny?!" He spat on the tom, a ferocious anger burning in his eyes. "Why are you laughing? You should be in agony!" He drove another kick into the tom's gut, again slicing him with his sharp claws.

"You're in love!" Mistoffelees yelled as he forced out another laugh, the pain obvious in his broken voice. Yet there was no longer a cold draft, instead it was replaced by warmth, as if he could feel arms around his body. "You're in love with Tantomile, that's why you hurt Pouncival, that's why you're hurting me!" Macavity growled louder. Mistoffelees just laughed again. "You know what's funnier? She will never like you. She will never even think about you. You'll waste your life and never feel what it's like to really kiss her, to really feel her-"

Macavity jumped on top of the tom and screamed a terrifying scream to cut him off before biting into his neck. The fiery red tom screeched in anger as he slashed across Mistoffelees' face, causing the tom to scream in pain, terrible, debilitating, fierce and awful and gone.

There was light.

Mistoffelees wasn't screaming anymore.

When he opened his eyes fully, he was greeted to the sight of Tantomile, who was holding him tightly. The queen was sat against the wall with Mistoffelees held against her, her arms wrapped very tightly around his frame and his head pressed against her chest.

Mistoffelees was panting. His heart was pounding as he brought his paws up to his face, feeling his whiskers. They were all there. He felt his neck, his gut, his face... no wounds. He was fine. Physically fine.

Tantomile kissed the tom on the top of his head. "I'm sorry," she said quietly. "He must have got to you, too."

Mistoffelees didn't break the embrace for a little while as he tried to come to terms with what had just happened. It was a harrowing experience. The image of Macavity fixed fiercely in his head, of being overpowered and beaten so brutally...

He pulled away from Tantomile slightly so that he could sit upright and look her in the eyes. Could he tell her? Macavity wanted her, she needed to be warned... but the ramifications of it all were brutal. If Macavity was only doing all of this to get to Tantomile, it made her directly responsible for what happened to Pouncival. Mistoffelees could deal with what he'd seen – hell, he'd had far worse nightmares – but could Tantomile deal with the truth? After what she had been through today, probably not. He made a decision.

"Thank you for showing me what you showed me." Mistoffelees said quietly, before placing his paws on Tantomile's shoulders. "You don't need to be afraid. That won't happen to you... you won't turn into him."

Tantomile looked as though she were about to cry, but quickly she shook her head. "Forget about the memory. You were screaming for almost five minutes. Five whole, real minutes of screams... of sobs..." She lifted her paws and placed them on his arms, before moving his paws from her shoulders so they could hold paws together. "You were screaming these awful, terrible screams. You cried into my chest. It was Macavity."

Mistoffelees made a loud sobbing noise as he looked away, but Tantomile squeezed his paws and he looked at her again. "Don't be afraid." Tantomile said sternly as looked at him. "Whatever he did to you, it's over. You're safe now."

"He killed me." Mistoffelees said quietly as he looked at her, breathing slowly in an attempt to avoid tears. He couldn't understand what was happening. The pain he had felt... it was terrible. Such fierce pain that he had never felt before. All of that coupled with the feeling of dying, the feeling of life being sucked from his body, the feeling of death. That was why he had woken up. He died. "I was helpless and he murdered me."

Mistoffelees felt tears running down his cheeks. This wasn't supposed to happen. He looked Tantomile in the eyes as he began to cry, which only served a terrible purpose – he watched teardrops form in her beautiful eyes and fall down her cheeks as well. For a brief moment, they simply held paws and cried, not needing to speak. They had both been physically abused by Macavity. On that day, they had both been victims.

Both had been taken to the brink of a terrible experience, yet they had helped each other through it. Tantomile felt that she couldn't stand physical contact, yet with this tom she felt safe. Mistoffelees had just felt his life slip away, he had internally begged for death just to stop the pain that Macavity had inflicted on him. He had only been able to get through it because Tantomile held him, he assumed that was why he had felt so warm.

In that moment, he leaned forwards and the pair embraced in a warm hug. A hug so comforting that as they shifted their heads and their cheeks brushed, everything began to feel safe. As Mistoffelees nuzzled Tantomile's cheek, she no longer felt sad. As she ran her paw through his fur, he no longer felt scared.

As they shut their eyes and began to accept what was happening, they both felt an overwhelming warmth rush through their bodies. Neither cat was crying anymore as their lips met and their overpowering emotions caused them to share a terrible decision - a soft, tender kiss.


	4. Munkustrap's Nightmare

"I saw him with my own eyes. Macavity is back." Mistoffelees took a small sip from the mug of tea in his paws as he sat in Munkustrap's den. He was sure that this would be easier to explain if Tantomile was alongside him, but she had already made it quite clear to him that she needed to see Pouncival. So while she was tending to him, it was Mistoffelees' job to convince Munkustrap of their visions.

"You're a mystic." Munkustrap said plainly as he sat opposite Mistoffelees. "Why not just show me?" He was not convinced, to say the least. Munkustrap always seemed to find the time to talk to cats who were in trouble, despite how busy he seemed all of the time. The moment he heard the name 'Macavity' it became his top priority – although the available evidence did not immediately convince him that it was a real threat.

"I can't." Mistoffelees took another sip of his tea and placed the mug down. "He has invaded both of Tantomile's recent visions. I'm scared he's waiting for another vision so he can invade again." He was speaking very matter-of-factly, not wanting to waste any of the protector's time.

"I'm not sure I follow-" Munkustrap started, but Mistoffelees interrupted him. The small tom began to describe what Macavity had done earlier that day. He spared a few of the more grizzly details to describe Macavity's actions, to cover the physical abuse of Tantomile and the murder he had experienced. He only stumbled over his words a few times, wanting to appear brave and calm, emulating the cat in front of him.

After a short while, Munkustrap nodded his head and apologised.

"More importantly than anything, Tumblebrutus is alive." Mistoffelees folded his arms. "Tantomile told me so. She saw him in a vision, Macavity sort of let it slip."

Munkustrap considered this for a little while. He got to his feet, taking Mistoffelees' mug through into the other room and returning with a few biscuits on a plate. Mistoffelees couldn't help but laugh at the stark contrast between his words and the current situation. Tea and biscuits hardly seemed like apt food for a discussion of this magnitude.

Munkustrap sat back down and took a deep breath. "I've taken everything you said into consideration. Though I have no reason to doubt what Tantomile saw, it would be a fool's errand to attempt to retrieve him. As such, unfortunately, I will be unable to assist you." He said everything so cleanly, as though he wasn't actively giving someone a death sentence.

Mistoffelees was not about to let this go so easily. "Tumblebrutus has been tortured for two years." He said, mimicking Munkustrap's tone. The silver tom shook his head, causing Mistoffelees to raise his voice slightly. "Tortured for two years." He reiterated, but again Munkustrap just shook his head softly. Mistoffelees jumped to his feet and yelled at Munkustrap, slamming his fists on the table as he shouted: "Macavity has been torturing Tumblebrutus for two years!"

"You would have me sacrifice the life of another to resolve his?" Munkustrap asked, attempting to soothe the tom in front of him. "We have no knowledge of where he is located, only the hope that Tantomile's vision was accurate. I apologise, but even if he is alive, there is just no good reason to risk another life to rescue him."

Mistoffelees growled. "How can you be called a protector? This is the first time I've ever asked you to help me, and you're completely failing your tribe!" Munkustrap rolled his eyes. He responded with an equal tone, getting to his feet as well. "Tumblebrutus is not part of this tribe anymore. As far as I'm concerned, he is dead. He died. We held a funeral for his family, it was distressing and we moved on. I urge you do the same. Now, if that's everything-" Munkustrap began to show Mistoffelees the door, but the smaller tom moved around the table and stood toe-to-toe with him.

"You're right – we held a funeral for his family, but not for him... because we knew, you knew, that he could still be alive." Mistoffelees frowned and stood his ground. "He isn't dead, he's alive. And he needs saving-" But Munkustrap wasn't interested. He pushed Mistoffelees out of the way. "If Tumblebrutus is truly alive, by now he will be just like Pouncival. Tantomile should know more than anyone that that's hardly living."

Mistoffelees yelled in anger and threw a punch at Munkustrap's gut, but the silver tom easily dodged by grabbing his paw. "Don't be stupid."

Mistoffelees reached forward sharply and grabbed Munkustrap's other paw. He stared at the leader for a moment before shaking his head. "I'm really sorry, but I'm about to do something _extremely _stupid." He shut his eyes, causing Munkustrap to furrow his brow – within moments both collapsed onto the floor, falling into a trance induced by Mistoffelees.

* * *

Tantomile stood outside the infirmary, holding a cake.

The events that had conspired to result in her holding a cake were complicated, to say the least. There could be no doubt that she felt guilty – usually she would spend almost every minute of her waking day with Pouncival. Instead, she had spent all day with Mistoffelees. And there was one thing that made everything so much worse as well...

...it had been the best day she could remember.

Tantomile knocked on the door before letting herself in. She walked slowly into the main room and paused, glancing around. It had been a good day for Junkyard cats it seemed – usually there were four or five cats in need of medical attention each day, but today there were only a couple. As Tantomile walked through the room, she looked left to see Jemima and Etcetera lying side-by-side on a bed. Jemima appeared to have a bandage around her ankle. Without any other adults present, Tantomile turned and locked the main door. She had seen enough of Macavity today to allow herself some slight paranoia.

The queen turned to walk through the room again and considered the guilt that she felt for today's events. Surely she should be allowed to spend at least one day away from Pouncival? Perhaps it was unfair to leave him with Coricopat, but surely the consequences of a single day would not be too great? She began to reconcile that the churning feeling in her stomach was not one that she enjoyed, and that this guilt really was not going to work out. Something would have to be done.

She had reached the end of the room. There was a door right in front of her, the door that she knew led directly into Pouncival's room... yet she was struggling to open it. The guilt was too great – even if that guilt was directly caused by her not spending any time with Pouncival today, by pinning him on Coricopat, by spending all of this time with Mistoffelees.

The fact was, she had enjoyed the time with Mistoffelees. The amount of time she had spent with Pouncival was unhealthy, it had turned into an obsession for a cat who hardly even knew who she was anymore. The words Mistoffelees had told her last night had begun to sink in, she had to let Pouncival go.

Tears began to form in Tantomile's eyes as she turned the door-handle and entered the room. She had been so certain that her mind was made up, that nothing could change the way she felt, that this had to stop... until she saw it.

Pouncival was lying on the bed, curled up with his head rested on Coricopat's chest. Both of them were sound asleep and both of them looked remarkably peaceful. Happy. Content.

Tantomile suddenly felt substantially less guilty.

Drawing in a deep breath, Tantomile stepped forwards and placed the cake on the side-table by the bed. She strolled across the room and casually sat in the chair opposite, glancing at the pair of cats and feeling her guilt subside somewhat. The mere fact that they had both fallen asleep for what could only be considered an afternoon nap eased her fears; it clarified that maybe she didn't need to worry quite so much.

Tantomile began to consider exactly how unstable Pouncival had become over the past couple of years. Certainly he had his moments of self-destructiveness and clearly there was something very wrong with his head. But looking at him like this... it gave her hope. Hope that maybe this might all be okay in the end after all, that maybe he might get through this, he might get better and be able to live the life intended for him when he was a kitten.

That idea, of course, made Tantomile feel extraordinarily guilty all over again.

The only way she had been able to internally justify her blossoming feelings for Mistoffelees was by rationalising her relationship with Pouncival as over. By telling herself that he was unable to love her back, by being certain that Pouncival was incapable of being in a relationship at all. That same feeling of hopefulness that had made her so happy for Pouncival was simultaneously making her feel desolate.

For a moment in that chair, she hadn't felt sad or at all broken. She had forgotten about her indiscretion with Mistoffelees, about how awful everything had felt just the night before. Tantomile had managed to rid herself of the negative feelings for only a fleeting moment as they swiftly swept back into her life with the realisation that there were no good directions to go from here.

Tantomile briefly hoped that Pouncival would never get better as that would allow her to attempt a relationship with Mistoffelees. She then mentally screamed at herself for thinking such a hateful and disgusting thing.

The queen loudly sighed as she watched Pouncival snuggling up against Coricopat's chest. A small smile began to creep onto Pouncival's cheeks, which gave Tantomile a flush of excitement. She so rarely saw him smile, it made her heart skip a beat when he did. Watching him like that... it really did make her feel as though he could be alright. That this story could have a happy ending.

Watching that sight unfold before her, why, she had almost even forgotten about Macavity.

But some things were too devastating to forget.

The thought had occurred to Tantomile that she might never be able to use her magic again, certainly if it risked Macavity interfering in the visions. The sight of that horrific tom, bright red fur and a gleaming yellow grin, it made her feel sick. The thought of what he had done to her... made her feel worse. She also briefly considered whether she would ever be able to tell Pouncival about it.

Perhaps not.

Tantomile sighed again and rested her eyes. Today had been hard. She hoped that Mistoffelees would be able to convince Munkustrap that Macavity had returned, that Tumblebrutus needed saving. If they were able to retrieve Tumblebrutus... Tantomile was certain that it would fix Pouncival. The return of his brother from beyond the grave would surely remedy his sickness, it had to. She prayed that it would.

And if it did, if Pouncival regained some of the sanity that he had lost over the years, well... that would leave her with a decision to make.

* * *

Mistoffelees did not want that to happen.

In a dimly-lit room, Mistoffelees and Munkustrap were playing cards.

There was not much by way of decoration, instead they appeared to be inside a warehouse of some kind, or a storage locker. The walls looked about as cold as the floor felt under their feet, while a sharp breeze would occasionally make them both feel rather uncomfortable. The two cats were sat opposite one another, each on a chair with a table between them. Various cards and betting counters were set between them, with an ominous third chair to the side.

Evidently, they were waiting for someone.

Munkustrap had initially been extremely angered that Mistoffelees had pulled him into this 'vision', especially after the revelation that Macavity had a habit of appearing and acting ruthlessly violent. As Munkustrap had explained to the tom opposite him, he had no particular interest in being murdered.

Mistoffelees dealt the cards as he reiterated his idea. "It's really simple." Mistoffelees stated calmly. "Yes, we are in a vision. I want Macavity to appear – if he appears, we can do something. Bargain with him, make a deal of some kind. I don't know the specifics... I just know that if we're to have any chance of rescuing Tumblebrutus, this is our best shot."

Munkustrap scowled. "You do know that you are playing with fire?" He begrudgingly took the cards into his paws. "You have gone over this plan with me for the past hour or so, and yet have you noticed that Macavity is not here? Perhaps for both of our sakes, your suicidal plan has not worked. Maybe you could just end this vision and I can get on with my day?"

Mistoffelees shook his head. "I will not end this vision until we have _something_. We will draw out Macavity, it's important that you see him and you know he's back, that he sees you and knows you're going to stop him. It has to be you. You're our protector." Mistoffelees paused as he examined his cards, before adding: "I'm too worried for Tumblebrutus, and I'm too worried for Tantomile to let this end."

Munkustrap tossed a card on the table and drew another from the pack. "Are you in love with her?" He said calmly, speaking the words with a simple tone. "Because you haven't shown any desire to assist Tantomile in over a year, yet all of a sudden you seem rather hell-bent on helping her."

Mistoffelees' ears twitched and he stared at his cards, not wanting to look up at Munkustrap. "I'm not in love with her," he said simply, still refusing to maintain any kind of eye-contact. "But what if I do have feelings for her? Would that be so bad?"

"Are you asking me whether it is bad to have emotional feelings for a queen who is mated to someone else?" Munkustrap raised an eyebrow. "Because I would have thought that you knew the answer to that question."

"Pouncival is ill." Mistoffelees reiterated. "He is incapable of being in a relationship."

"And what would you do if your plan was successful?" Munkustrap swapped out another card and rearranged them in his paws. "What if we did bring back Tumblebrutus, alive? What if that proved to be the catalyst that made Pouncival get better? What then?" He placed his cards on the table, revealing three kings.

Mistoffelees looked up at Munkustrap and tossed his cards on the table as well, revealing a flush of hearts. "I would be ecstatic for Pouncival and nothing else would matter." He scowled. "I believe it's your deal-"

"Actually, if it is the same to both of you, I would rather deal this hand." Both toms looked to their side to see the previously-empty chair occupied by a large, ginger-furred cat. Mistoffelees began to press the cards together and push them across the table, but Macavity interrupted him by grabbing the cards from his paws and shuffling them.

"I believe what Munkustrap was trying to tell you was very clear." Macavity stated as he shuffled the cards. "You see, Mistoffelees, my brother was _attempting _to get across to you that if I return Tumblebrutus to you, Pouncival would surely become fit as a fiddle. At which point, Tantomile would really have no purpose for you, would she?" He winked and dealt the cards out.

Both cats tried to speak, but Macavity interrupted them both again. "Tantomile made her choice a few years ago – she picked Pouncival, not you. So why, after standing by his side through all these years of torment, would she suddenly give him up for you?" He picked up his cards and licked his lips, eyeing up Mistoffelees' body. "It just seems so unlikely. I mean, who in their right mind would pick _you_? Of course I would pick you in a heartbeat, but _I'm not in my right mind_. All I would want to do is smother you in honey and take a big bite out of-"

"If you intend on killing us, could you get it out of the way now, please? I have meetings all day." Munkustrap snapped as he blankly stared at Macavity, entirely unwilling to give him the satisfaction of abusing Mistoffelees. "Congratulations, you can bully a teenager. I'm sure you must feel rather proud of your achievement."

Macavity responded to this with a standing ovation, jumping from his chair to hammer his paws together and yell "Encore!" at the top of his lungs. "C'est magnifique!" He widened his eyes at Munkustrap. "Your wonderful wit knows no bounds, evidently it has blossomed since we last spoke!" He began yelling and clapping louder before suddenly stopping completely dead silent.

Munkustrap flashed a glance at Mistoffelees before turning his attention to Macavity. "It has been two years since I last saw your hideous face. Please could we cut to the chase?" The tom rolled his eyes as he leant back in his chair, giving no attention to the fact that the ginger tom was still standing up. "I was so happy when there was a chance that you might have had a heart attack and vanished forever. You know, if there's any situation whereby you vanish forever after today, I would adore hearing it."

Macavity laughed again as he sat back down in his chair, his moment of manic madness reduced to a calm exterior as his laugh subsided into a mere chuckle, which itself reduced into a grin. "Should I rape and murder you both now, or should I save that for later?" He asked with bright wide eyes. "Or should I just leave here this instant and return to an unguarded Junkyard to kidnap a new pet?" He threw his cards down on the table, revealing a set of aces.

Mistoffelees glared at Macavity and slammed his cards face-down on the table, though his resilience swiftly turned into fear when Macavity lashed out and grabbed his wrist. "Would Pouncival be a good pet for me to take?" He murred, squeezing Mistoffelees' wrist tightly. "Or should I take Tantomile?"

Mistoffelees' ears perked at the mention of her name and he yanked his paw from Macavity's grip. "Do you mind?" Munkustrap quickly interjected before Mistoffelees could make the situation worse. He wanted to warn Mistoffelees that this could easily descend into something terrible, that if Macavity so wanted this could become a bloodbath. "You have had no issue with tormenting my tribe before. Perhaps the reason you haven't attempted to take Tantomile is that you are unable to? Or else why wouldn't you have tried already, rather than playing all of these games?"

Macavity threw the cards and chips from the table, leaving it bare. He jumped up onto the table in their place his flash of anger suddenly subsiding into nothing short of obedience as he rolled onto his back. "Oh but Munkustrap..." he murred, moving his head to nuzzle against the silver tom's paw. "The games are the best part."

Mistoffelees pushed himself away from the table as he looked at the figure in front of him. Macavity was behaving incredibly differently to how he acted in Mistoffelees' vision. If the small tom was frightened of him before, now he was simply terrified. To see Macavity as a threatening beast was one thing, but to see him lying on this table lavishing an affectionate nuzzle on Munkustrap... was weird. Weird and terrifying and Mistoffelees was completely certain that he was in way over his head and this had been an awful idea.

Munkustrap maintained eye-contact with Macavity as he raised his paw to rest it on the ginger tom's head. He patted him a couple of times and drew in a deep breath so as not to be repulsed by the feeling of his dirty, neglected fur. "Just tell me." Munkustrap said quietly, keeping his focus on Macavity's eyes rather than his hideous fur. "Tell me what it would take for all of these games to be over. Tell me what I need to do and I might just do it."

Macavity rolled onto his side and swished his tail against Mistoffelees' face. "You know what it would take, darlin'." He jerked upwards suddenly and darted forwards, wrapping his great arms tightly around Munkustrap and pressing his mouth against the silver tom's ear.

Mistoffelees jumped back again. He could see that Munkustrap's claws were dug into the table, he was clearly restraining himself from attacking Macavity. Mistoffelees couldn't see his face, it was obscured by Macavity's fur, nor could he hear what was being said. He felt sure that Macavity was whispering something to Munkustrap so quietly, so utterly silently, that there was no way he could possibly hear. He had to do something. He couldn't be alone with Macavity again, not after before and especially not after what he had seen now. The ginger tom was clearly insane. Mentally insane.

"I want to know if Tumblebrutus is alive!" Mistoffelees yelled suddenly, causing Macavity to release Munkustrap. He turned swiftly and crawled across the table, biting his lower lip and falling onto his front. The smaller tom pushed himself as far back in his chair as he could, a look of absolute fear on his face. This was getting to be too much for him...

...and Macavity knew it. "And I want to know how you make your fur all fluffy." The ginger tom purred as he pressed his paws on the end of the table and dragged himself forward, tilting his head sideways. "You're pretty, you know that?" He murred, completely lolling his body to look as relaxed as physically possible. He outstretched his paw and placed it on Mistoffelees' knee, causing the smaller tom to jump off the chair and stumble onto the cold floor.

Macavity rolled off of the table and landed on his feet. He began to offer to help Mistoffelees to his feet with an outstretched paw, but was interrupted by Munkustrap grabbing his wrist. The silver tom yanked Macavity away from Mistoffelees and growled. Macavity turned to face Munkustrap and matched the growl, clenching his fist. His ginger fur flared up, puffing up like his chest so as to look big and fierce. "You are not pretty." Macavity was no longer smiling.

Munkustrap released Macavity's paw and the two began to exchange words, with the silver tom attempting to assuage the ginger tom and calm him down. Mistoffelees, now sitting upright on the floor, had wrapped his arms around himself and backed up against the wall. He was now cowering in fear and more or less having a panic attack.

And why not? Mistoffelees was now very certain that he was in way over his head. Taking on Macavity had seemed like such a brave and noble thing before, but even more it had seemed like such an achievable thing. He had truly believed that this would be simple, that Macavity was simply an angry and vengeful cat. He now understood that he was much more – not even evil, but utterly insane. Mistoffelees shut his eyes and breathed deeply, beginning to wish that this would just end.

But how little he knew that his fear was only feeding Macavity's depraved imagination.

"Please let us make a deal." Munkustrap said as he walked Macavity back around the table and offered him the chair to sit on. Macavity calmly sat as his fur relaxed flat against his form. Munkustrap sat as well, folding his arms and drawing Macavity's attention away from Mistoffelees. "We believe that Tumblebrutus is still alive. If this is the case, we would like him returned to us."

Macavity looked utterly bemused as he made an exaggerated shrug of his shoulders. "Because that sounds like something I would do!" He blurted out, cocking his head at Munkustrap. "Apparently, you now believe me to be reasonable! I can assure you that I am most certainly not."

Munkustrap sighed loudly as he repeated himself. "Let us make a deal." He said with a solemn tone. "Perhaps there is something that I personally could offer you... other than what you whispered to me earlier." He glanced to see Mistoffelees still cowering across the room. Macavity caught his gaze and glanced too. A horrible idea began to engulf his mind.

"Okay." Macavity purred as he turned his head entirely to look at Mistoffelees. "I will return a living, breathing Tumblebrutus to your Junkyard's infirmary on one simple condition." His pupils dilated as he flexed his claws. "You, Munkustrap, punish that ugly tom for being so petulant by slitting his wrists."

Munkustrap flashed Macavity with the same look of bemusement that his brother had showed him mere moments earlier. As they briefly bickered about the logistics and fairness of something so seemingly awful, Mistoffelees began to pull himself together. This was not a bad compromise, he considered – though it would hurt, it would put an end to this vision as had happened before. It was an out.

Besides that, dying in a vision did not mean dying in real life – it simply meant waking up, and Mistoffelees was eager to do that. He knew it would be painful, he knew it would be regretful, but he also knew that it was a real chance to save Tumblebrutus. And after talking such a big game earlier, here he was being presented with the opportunity to be a hero. Mistoffelees never considered himself brave, but this was his chance and damn it all if he was going to squander it.

Mistoffelees pulled himself to his feet and nodded his head. "I accept those terms." He managed to say quietly before forcing himself to walk across the room and retake his place at the table. There was no doubt in his mind that he was utterly terrified of the ginger tom sat across from him, but he had to remember that this was bigger than fear. This was about a real life that could be saved.

With that in mind, Mistoffelees began to explain to Munkustrap how this really wasn't such a bad idea. He clarified that dying in the vision did not mean dying in reality, as well as explaining that the only awful thing would be that he could feel pain. Neither of those factors prevented Munkustrap from asking his primary question: "Would you feel yourself dying?"

Mistoffelees thought for a moment and then nodded his head. After all, this had happened before – when Macavity had slaughtered him in that vision only a few hours earlier. "Yes, I did." The fact that he used the past tense told Munkustrap enough for him to know that this was viable. He knew now that this would be a terribly painful experience, but if it meant saving a life...

"Why are you doing this?" Munkustrap asked Macavity, who did little more than give a minor shrug. The ginger tom glanced between them both. "My magic allows me to prevent others from using their own magic, but it allows me very little by way of mind control." Macavity began sheathing and unsheathing his claws as he spoke. "It would arouse me to watch you murder someone."

Mistoffelees felt sick. "But why are you giving up Tumblebrutus so easily? You keep him for two years and then just happily give him up?" The whole thing seemed suspicious somehow, though nothing could have prepared Mistoffelees for what Macavity said next. The answer to his question seemed to basic, so plain, and yet so upsetting all at once.

Macavity began purring. "I'm truly unconvinced I could hurt him much more than I already have."

Mistoffelees launched himself forwards and took a swipe at Macavity, catching the ginger tom across the face with a couple of claws. Munkustrap quickly restrained Mistoffelees and made him sit back down, forcing him to calm and urging him not to do such idiotic things. Awfully, Macavity touched his face to feel blood. He began tapping the bleeding wound and then slapping it roughly and forcefully with his open palm, causing blood to litter his paw as he laughed hysterically.

"Here's your lesson for the day!" Macavity yelled as he jumped to his feet, grabbed the chair he had been sitting on and threw it at Mistoffelees. Munkustrap got in the way, taking the full force of the hit and falling to the ground, making him unable to do anything as Macavity dashed over to Mistoffelees and pressed his bloody paw in the tom's face, dirtying his white fur with red so urgently and forcefully that within moments Mistoffelees' face was a different colour. Macavity started roughly punching the small tom in the face before Munkustrap could find his feet and dart in-between both of them, leaving Mistoffelees nursing an awful injury to the jaw and Macavity still laughing manically.

"I'm big, you're small. I'm amazing, you're disgusting. I love nothing and _I hate you_." Macavity hissed as he leapt up onto the table. Standing head-and-shoulders above both of the other toms in the room, Macavity yelled out a hideous scream. "You are nothing! Neither are your friends, neither are your families, neither is that wretched wreck of a cat Tumblebrutus. He is nothing, he is pointless, he has no purpose for existence. The mere fact that I allow him to continue breathing is a favour and nothing more!" He stomped his feet on the table, just as a young kitten would have a tantrum.

"Your petulence is disgusting and it makes me MAD!" Macavity yelled as loud as he could and his fur flared as before. Munkustrap was now standing perfectly in front of Mistoffelees in order to block him from Macavity's view, truly acting as protector to the smaller cat. He turned his back to Macavity and lifted his paw to Mistoffelees' face to inspect the injury. "This can end now if you want." Munkustrap said quietly as he caught Mistoffelees' gaze. "We don't have to do this."

"We have no choice." Mistoffelees replied with an equal tone. Tears were welling in his eyes again as his jaw swelled where Macavity had hit him. "His magic blocks mine... we can't leave the vision until he does." Munkustrap lifted his paw to cup Mistoffelees' other cheek and stroked it softly. "That's fine." He said with a soft, low tone. "You will be safe and fine. I will make sure of it."

Munkustrap turned to see Macavity sitting on the end of the table. His fur was completely flat against his form and, just as soon as the anger had come, it was gone. He stared across to Munkustrap and made a sad face. "He will die." Macavity said quietly, a hushed dulcet tone to match the way the other two toms had been speaking. "Making me bleed has guaranteed Tumblebrutus' death."

Munkustrap continued to block either tom from the other's view by standing between them both. "Your point earlier was that if Tumblebrutus has no more purpose to you, it makes no difference for you to return him to us." Munkustrap stated as he turned around, his arms spread wide to continue to visibly protect Mistoffelees. "There is no need for your anger. You made us an offer. Let us negotiate it."

Macavity shook his head. "That offer has been rescinded. If you are so hell-bent on new terms, I will now only be satisfied by watching the life drain from your eyes as the tom you're currently 'protecting' slits your wrists." Munkustrap's eyes widened at the suggestion and Macavity licked his lips. "Go on, confer with your pet. I'll expect you both to be seated within the next minute or the deal is off and Tumblebrutus dies." With that, Macavity got to his feet, picked up his chair, walked around the table and sat comfortably to await their decision.

Munkustrap begrudgingly turned his body to look at Mistoffelees. The smaller tom began to shake his head desperately. "Please, no." He said weakly, but Munkustrap nodded his head knowingly. "When you told me about your visions, about feeling the pain, you mentioned that dying would only lead to waking." Mistoffelees nodded his head. Munkustrap took the smaller tom's paws in his and squeezed them. "I'm sorry for what I said earlier. If it will save Tumblebrutus from this monster, I can take this pain."

Mistoffelees wanted to tell Munkustrap that it wasn't fair, that the silver tom should not have to take such intense physical pain... when another, darker thought suddenly crept into his mind. If Mistoffelees were the one to die in this vision, upon waking it would leave Macavity and Munkustrap alone together in the ginger tom's dominion. Surely unspeakable horrors would happen to him.

No, that could not happen. Mistoffelees reasoned with himself that Macavity will ultimately overpower and kill whoever is left standing, like he did before. It would be better if Munkustrap went first. Briefly he considered what Macavity might do to him, torture him, beat him. He visibly gulped before closing his eyes. It would be better if Munkustrap died first. It was a controlled death, an easier death, an simpler death... a less painful death.

"We agree." Mistoffelees said solemnly as tears began to form in his eyes and Munkustrap helped him to his feet. They walked back to their original seats around the table and sat, maintaining eye-contact with one another and not Macavity. Mistoffelees knew what he had to do, even if he couldn't face the idea of doing it. Taking in a sharp breath, he asked aloud: "How can we trust you?"

Macavity smirked. "You can't. I suppose that's what makes it such excellent fun! But then, you have probably also realised that this is your last and only chance of ever seeing that cat alive. As I promised to you earlier, your swipe at my face signed his death warrant. This is the only situation whereby he lives to breath another day, this is the only way I will consider allowing him life and this is the only thing you can do to stop me from killing him right now." Macavity began to laugh quietly, a broken laugh that refused to fit his voice at all. "Now do it. Slice his wrists open."

A moment of silence fell upon the room. Mistoffelees was unmoving, looking to Munkustrap for guidance as if there were some way the older tom could shield him from this. He knew – they both knew – that what they would do here would haunt them for years to come. This would not flutter away like a bad dream, this would stay with them. Yet as Munkustrap offered his outstretched arms, paws facing upwards, he did so without trepidation. His calm exterior was constructed to assuage the tom opposite, and his words were as soothing as his acceptance. "Mistoffelees," the silver tom whispered. "You can do this. I promise it won't hurt."

Mistoffelees looked between his paws and Munkustrap's arms. Much unlike the silver cat, he did not appear calm. He unsheathed his claws and reached across the table as Munkustrap had done. It really wasn't that wide; he could easily reach Munkustrap's shoulders. Macavity, meanwhile, was not speaking a single word. He merely watched with childlike delight as he watched Mistoffelees' claws press against the muscle of Munkustrap's upper arms.

Within a moment, the pain began. Mistoffelees' claws pressed into Munkustrap, piercing flesh and drawing deep red blood.

Munkustrap caught Mistoffelees' gaze and drew a deep breath. "Look at me, Mistoffelees, don't look at what you're doing. Just look at me. See how calm I am? Listen to my voice, you can hear that it doesn't hurt. You're not hurting me, I promise you that I cannot feel any of this. You can do it. I promise you that you can do it, just draw your claws down until you reach my paws. That's all you have to do, just do it."

Just do it.

The tears that fell from Mistoffelees' eyes as he stared sadly at Munkustrap spoke wonders for how this was affecting him. Never had he imagined himself capable of causing harm to another, let alone in this incredible way. He followed the silver tom's instructions to the letter, maintaining that important eye-contact and not looking at the blood that was beginning to pool on the table. He had to avoid that sight. His claws were drawing down Munkustrap's arms, their sharp edges cutting through him like a knife through butter.

Munkustrap glanced down to move his arms, essentially guiding Mistoffelees' claws along his veins. Completely in control of this torturous torment, pretending with a burning passion that he could not feel anything. He continued to urge Mistoffelees on, telling the tom that this did not hurt, lying through a burning pain that he did not want to cry. It was only when his wrists were met, when the slicing was finished, that he could allow himself a loud, piercing scream of agony.

Mistoffelees began desperately sobbing as he squeezed Munkustrap's paws, apologising a hundred times over for what he did to the older tom. Munkustrap did not answer, instead giving out another yell of pain as Macavity began to laugh. The laughter got louder as he pounded his fists on the table, the raucous sound only fettered by the saliva that was forming in his mouth at the sight – and smell – of blood.

Munkustrap knew that he was dying, but also that it would be slow. Though he had considered how much this would hurt, he had completely failed to consider how long it would take. He wanted to beg Mistoffelees to do more damage, but knew the smaller tom would not be mentally capable of doing any more. And though his arms were exceptionally weak, he felt that he had one powerful swipe left in him before his arms would not function anymore.

With that in mind, Munkustrap belied the fact that he was visibly dying to kiss Mistoffelees on the side of the head and nuzzle him softly. Munkustrap lifted his paws to the smaller tom's cheeks and weakly touched them. As they stared at one another, the only sound other to Macavity's hideous laughter that fell in the room was the incessant dripping of blood onto the table. There was too much lost already, Munkustrap knew he had little time to execute... this part of the plan.

Staring Mistoffelees in the eyes, Munkustrap managed a half-smile. "When you die... you wake up?" He asked softly, so weak that he could not manage a louder voice. Mistoffelees nodded his head gently. Too many emotions were flooding his head, he could not muster any kind of response other than the slow nod.

The half-smile on Munkustrap's face turned into a wicked smile. "I promised..." he whispered, his body shaking as he made a small wink. "...you would come... to no harm." Suddenly his paw dropped to Mistoffelees' neck, and sharp outstretched claws viciously and violently sliced across his throat. Both toms collapsed into a heap on the table, Mistoffelees coughing and spluttering for moments before his movement stopped and both cats were left near-motionless in a pool of their own blood.

Macavity's laughter stopped abruptly. He had been outsmarted – he had planned to do horrific things to Mistoffelees, to mentally and physically torture him. But now...

"A deal's a deal." Munkustrap uttered as he forced himself to turn and face Macavity. "You really think... I'd have left him... alone with you?" He tried to force a laugh like the ginger tom had before. This was the reason Munkustrap had accepted the new terms – he knew he would be able to minimise Mistoffelees' suffering by slitting his throat.

Macavity began growling as he got up from his chair and began to approach Munkustrap, though he stopped in place. "You cut someone's throat, they'll die in around fifteen minutes. A swift way to die, reasonably painless as no blood reaches the brain. Why, you're an evil genius." Macavity was grinning. It was unnerving. "But let me tell you this – you've got a similar amount of time before you bleed out too. Which means I have about fifteen minutes to wreak some havoc while your tribe's best defences are preoccupied."

Munkustrap began to panic. Macavity just laughed again. "But don't worry, I won't reneg on our deal – I will simply return Tumblebrutus to your tribe in person. Sayonara."

With that, Macavity vanished.

Munkustrap was in a frenzy. This was not good. This was worse than not good. Macavity had just promised to return to the Junkyard for the first time in two years and he was unable to do anything about it. Worse still, his only possible ticket out of this hellish, incredibly painful vision was currently lying seemingly unconscious beside him on this table.

Munkustrap attempted to reach forward, but his attempts at grabbing Mistoffelees only caused the smaller tom to fall off the table and collapse onto the floor below. Munkustrap screamed in agony as he tried to draw a breath and lost his balance as well, falling backwards and collapsing off the table, onto the concrete floor.

Munkustrap drew another sharp breath as he rolled onto his front, glancing across at the motionless form of Mistoffelees. "Wake up!" He yelled, grimacing in pain. But Mistoffelees would not wake up, he would only lie there.

Looking across at the small tom, Munkustrap began to lose the ability to fight the pain. He lied on the cold, hard floor, feeling his life fall away drip by drip. He glanced at his body, it was a horrible murky red. This wasn't right. He drew a deep breath. Macavity would be at the Junkyard by now... he couldn't be given this much time. Munkustrap knew he had to do something, anything. He had to try and get through to Mistoffelees to end this vision.

Munkustrap drew his right arm forward and pressed it into the ground. With a sickening, pained scream he used his brutalised arm to drag himself forwards and towards Mistoffelees. The tears on Munkustrap's face did not do justice to the pain he felt, to the utter agony and devastation that taunted him. But he knew what was at stake. This was his role, this was his life. He had to protect his tribe.

Little by little, he edged closer. Blood stained the floor underneath him as his arms became tools to propel him forwards, tools that caused torturous pain each time he used them. For every press, every pull, he felt a newfound burning torment that coarsed through every fibre of his body.

But finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Munkustrap managed to get to Mistoffelees and collapsed beside him, using all of the strength he had left to press his mouth against the motionless tom's ear.

"If you're still here, Mistoffelees, if you're still with me..." Munkustrap started, peppering his words with occasional sobs. "Macavity is gone now. He is gone. You need to... end this vision. Use your magic. Listen to me, fight this, use your energy... and end this. The tribe is in danger... all of them." Munkustrap turned and spat on the floor as he continued to cry. The pain was getting completely unbearable. "Demeter is in danger... Pouncival is in danger... Tantomile is in danger-"

* * *

Pouncival was woken by a devastating crash.

Coricopat was woken by Demeter yelling 'Macavity'.

Tantomile was woken by Pouncival screaming.

Tantomile felt a burst of adrenaline as her eyes darted open. She dashed across the room and leapt onto the bed, instinctively grabbing Pouncival and pulled him close to her. She kissed him between the ears and held him tightly. "He's not taking you away from me." She said quietly, her breathing heavy and fast. "Nobody is taking you away from me."

Pouncival began to cry as he rested in Tantomile's arms. "I don't want to die!" He sobbed, turning his body and clinging on to the queen. This had been his nightmare every time he closed his eyes, that Macavity would return for him. Now it was happening, he knew from the crash alone that Macavity was back. He couldn't bear it. "Please please please please please please please don't let him no please I don't he can't you won't please please oh please-" He began to mumble madness, shaking his head and shuddering. He very quickly became incomprehensible, which terrified Tantomile.

Thud.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

The sound was coming from the main room. The front door to the infirmary was being pounded on. The sounds outside were now turning from murmurs into screams of worry and yells of anger. There was no fighting that could be heard, but the fear permeated. There could be no doubt that Macavity was not only in the Junkyard, but that he was currently trying to gain entrance to the infirmary.

Coricopat got to his feet and walked around the bed, moving to the door. He cautiously opened it, glancing into the main room to see it empty, save for Jemima and Etcetera lying together, cowering on that sole bed. "I'm going to get the kittens out of here..." he said with a dull tone, looking only at Tantomile. "They can't get caught in the cross-fire of this."

Coricopat entered the main room and walked swiftly towards the two queens, trying his hardest to ignore the hammering at the locked door. "Hey, you two, come on." He said, ushering the queens off the bed. Jemima immediately stumbled on her bandaged ankle, causing Etcetera to stumble as well. "I can't, it hurts!" Jemima howled. "There's no time-" Coricopat started to say, but was stopped in his tracks when the door swung open.

Suddenly and desperately, Coricopat pushed both of the queens onto the floor. On his paws and knees, Coricopat forced them to hide under the bed. "Be silent, don't move, no sounds." He told them with a hushed voice. No sooner were the queens safely under the bed that Coricopat jumped to his feet, seeing a sight that he had only half-expected – for nothing could have prepared him for what he actually saw.

Macavity was stood in the middle of the infirmary. Three or four burly, black-furred cats were standing in the entrance, evidently blocking any of the Jellicles from entering. But what was really surprising, shocking even, was that Macavity was cradling Tumblebrutus.

And Tumblebrutus, though clearly not conscious, was _breathing_.

"I have come to return something." Macavity purred as he approached the bed beside Coricopat, not realising that there were two cats hiding underneath. He placed Tumblebrutus gently onto the mattress and turned to leave, making about as far as the door before stopping in his tracks. "The thing is, though, I do so hate to leave empty-handed..." He glanced at Coricopat and licked his lips.

Coricopat growled. "If you want me, you'd better expect the fight of your life." He unsheathed his claws and closed the distance between Macavity and the bed, essentially protecting the two kittens underneath. Macavity smirked. "Or, I could just go into that little room over there..." He purred, pointing at the room containing Tantomile and Pouncival. "And just take whatever I find. Or, better still, I could set this whole place on fire and everyone will burn. Would you like that?"

"I sure would not." The door to the small room opened and Tantomile stepped out. She growled. "You think you can take on both of us?" She stood protectively to block off the door just as Coricopat was standing in front of the bed. The twins both knew that four young lives were at stake here, not including their own. Tantomile wanted to scream for joy that Tumblebrutus was back, but this was only half the battle. Now they had to secure survival.

"Hey, Tants," Coricopat said aloud, keeping his glare on Macavity. "I love you." Tantomile stuttered as she drew a sharp breath, keeping her eyes fixed on the ginger tom as well. "I love you too, Cori."

Macavity began to laugh as he raised his paws into the air. "Just returning a cat without taking someone in his place... that really doesn't seem like something I'd do. Instead, allow me to make a deal. One of you comes with me, right now, and nobody else has to die. Just think about it..." His laughter continued as his paws appeared more than just red – a hot red, a burning red, a _fire _red. Flames appeared in his paws as though he were on fire himself.

"You will never take any of us ever again!" Tantomile shouted as she unsheathed her claws as well. "If it's a fight you want, we will gladly oblige!" Coricopat chimed in as the twins suddenly started to move in union, their bodies almost intertwined despite the physical distance between them – they were in absolute mental synchronisation. And they spoke, this time their words joining together. "Let's do this."

"This place is going to burn to the ground and everyone is going to die." Macavity grinned horrifically as fire began to drop from his paws onto the ground below, starting small flames in the infirmary. "Bring it, furballs."


	5. A Nightmare, Etc

Tantomile and Coricopat stood tall. They did not want to show any weakness as they slowly approached Macavity, shuffling forward little by little. With a sudden movement, Coricopat attempted to forge water to throw at Macavity, but the magic collapsed in the air. He tried again with the same effect.

Macavity grinned widely as the fire gleamed on his paws. "You do realise that so long as I am here, your magic is useless?" He forced a laugh. "My magical ability numbs yours, making it impossible for you do anything to stop me." Coricopat shook his head in disbelief before trying again. That would make things substantially harder. "Then it's lucky for me that I'm a good fighter!" Coricopat yelled.

Macavity rolled his eyes. "I'm sure. But think of it this way – it doesn't matter how good of a fighter you are, I'm still going to win." He smirked. "After all, why do you think Munkustrap has not yet come to your aid? Simply put – I killed him." That was not true in any sense of the word. Macavity lied through his teeth as he kept a calm demeanour.

In truth, Munkustrap was predisposed. He and Mistoffelees had tried to take on Macavity moments earlier in a psychic vision, which through a series of difficult circumstances had led to them being unable to join this fight for fifteen minutes. Enough time for Macavity to do some evil. But perhaps he should have chosen his words more carefully, as they only seemed to fire-up the twins.

Tantomile and Coricopat dashed forwards to attack Macavity, but the ginger tom was too quick for them, easily dodging their attempted slashes as he jumped back. The flames that were in Macavity's paws grew larger and he threw a fist at Coricopat, glancing the tom's arm. Tantomile jumped forward, nailing a punch into Macavity's gut. Coricopat added a knee to his side and the twins made further attacks in unison, which seemed to hit hard.

Tantomile showed remarkable agility to swing a kick into Macavity's face, connecting her heel with his jaw. He had no time to recover before Coricopat hit him with a similar attack, then both twins went for that heel-kick in unison – which turned out to be a terrible idea. Macavity saw the opportunity and caught their feet in his hands. He squeezed tightly as the flames engulfed his paws, causing the twins to lose balance as they tried to pull away. The fire burned brightly as they dropped to the ground, with Coricopat only barely able to escape his hold.

Coricopat jumped to his feet, feeling the burning pain in his right heel. As he glanced up he saw that Macavity still had Tantomile and dove forward, driving his shoulder into Macavity's gut and forcing the tom to release her. As Macavity and Coricopat spilled onto the floor they threw short punches at each other, with Macavity's attacks each causing mild burns on impact.

Tantomile tried getting to her feet but found herself unable to as she looked at her left foot – the fur had been completely burned off from where Macavity held her. The queen screamed as she looked at the damage, though she was only mildly burned, the pain was real and the shock of losing so much fur was devastating. It took her a moment to focus her mind and regain the fight, which was quickly descending into a scrap.

As Macavity pushed himself away from Coricopat he slammed his paws on the ground, causing a wall of flame to lift up from the ground and give him time to regroup. Tantomile instinctively grabbed Coricopat's paw and pulled him away from the flames, causing both twins to collapse onto the floor. Coricopat glanced at Tantomile's injury and gave her a quick hug.

The flames began to spread.

The twins backed away from the fire quickly, being forced into the centre of the room. Macavity jumped to his feet and onto a nearby bed, using the leverage to leap over the wall of fire and land beside the twins. He laid a fist into Coricopat's hip and tried to hold on to cause more burning pain, but Tantomile was able to fight him off with an elbow to the face. The ginger tom found his feet as the twins took another swipe at him, though within moments everyone stopped.

Macavity had engineered his way around the room, to be back at Tumblebrutus' bed, and was resting his paw on the foot of the bed. He stood with his back to the bed, staring at the twins, his paw simply resting on the mattress. Nobody moved. They knew full well that with the fire he was seemingly able to create at will, one wrong move and he could seriously hurt Tumblebrutus. The twins knew, worse than that, there were two kittens hiding under that bed. Macavity did not seem to have this knowledge.

"Now, I do not want him to die." Macavity lied. "But I think we all need to calm down and consider what we're really fighting about." He was breathing heavily. Evidently the twins had put up far more of a fight than he had anticipated.

"What we're fighting about?" Coricopat was incredulous. "You're trying to kill us! You literally said so! If this is about something else, if you're saying there's a way that this can end in a civil manner... then tell me! Tell us! Right now!" He was yelling, his paw rubbing his face. Tantomile was simply staring at Macavity, when she noticed something – the heavy breathing. It was odd.

Odd because she had seen Macavity fight before – they all had, at the Jellicle Ball. The showdown between Macavity and Munkustrap. A fight that was completely even for its majority, until the entire tribe got involved and tilted the battle their way. Even she knew that it was crazy how much Macavity was struggling – he looked exhausted. "You're in no shape to fight." She added.

Macavity shook his head. "Maybe not. I've had a long day." Morning, midday and afternoon he had invaded three psychic visions. It appeared that Macavity had made himself quite tired through such a constant use of magic, which had been exacerbated by his summoning flames. "We're fighting about my new pet. Like I said, I don't _want_ to kill any of you." Though the twins could not have known the extent of his exhaustion, Tantomile realised that the ginger tom was weak.

"You don't get it, do you?" Tantomile asked as she glanced down at his paw. "You're not taking any of us."

Macavity did not foresee what happened next. So fixated on abusing the unconscious tom, on avoiding the attacks of the twins, Macavity had allowed himself to become completely unawares of the two kittens under the bed. As he stood right there, his back to the bed, the kittens took complete advantage of what they saw.

When the fight started, Jemima and Etcetera had initially just cowered. That soon turned into hugging and that eventually became bravery. After a brief kiss and a holding of paws, they managed to turn under the bed and face the battle. With where they lay now, Macavity's heels were directly by their faces. Did they ever take advantage.

Without any warning at all, Jemima and Etcetera lunged forwards and dug their teeth into Macavity's heels, just above his ankles. The ginger tom yelled as he collapsed to the ground, with the kittens holding on biting for a short moment until they could not any longer. Both of their bites drew blood, but they did not know the extent of the damage – though Jemima had only managed to bite flesh, Etcetera had (through luck more than judgement) bitten through a tendon.

Macavity realised very quickly that he had taken a serious injury. Nonetheless, as he fell he managed to turn and hit Jemima with a brutal slash across the chest, sending her onto her back. Etcetera was quickly by her side, holding the wound, but Macavity was unable to use the situation to his advantage as Tantomile hit him with a swift punch in the throat. Macavity held his neck as he struggled to breathe.

Tantomile went for another hit but Macavity dodged, swinging his own fist and this time catching Tantomile in the crotch. She screamed and doubled over as the burns from his attack hit her hard. Macavity jumped to his feet, dodging Coricopat's kick and slashing the tom's thigh. In this moment of injury he glanced around, seeing his opportunity to grab Etcetera and make a dash for it. He leapt forward, grabbed Etcetera by the scruff of her neck and turned to find an exit.

Jemima reached for Macavity, but the brutal pain in her chest made it impossible. She collapsed, red staining her fur and paws trying to stop the bleeding. Coricopat similarly went for a kick, but his thigh gave way from the recent gash and he dropped to his knee. Tantomile saw her opportunity and fought through the pain to take a big leap at the ginger tom, but he found luck. Macavity threw a fireball at her and hit completely flush, brutally crashing into Tantomile's gut and making her collapse under the impact, burning more fur and leaving her with a severe burn wound.

With Jemima, Coricopat and Tantomile all down, Macavity glanced around the den. His brain began ticking and he noted that the flames had spread to all of the walls, with one burned down. Just enough time. He began moving towards the end of the room, the door hiding Pouncival away, but a weak and wounded Tantomile lashed out from the floor, one last gasp dive. Her feeble slash just glanced Macavity's bloodied ankle, but it was enough to make him stumble. He grimaced.

Feeling the agony in his ankle and considering Etcetera, the queen he was carrying that had caused the ankle injury, Macavity felt a flash of anger. The fire was causing the walls to crumble. With no warning at all, he dropped Etcetera to hold her by her neck and lower back. Macavity yelled as he threw Etcetera into the wall, sending her crashing through the crumbling wall and providing him with an escape route. Macavity jumped after her, ending up outside and away from the cats in the flaming building.

Once outside, Macavity picked up Etcetera to see that she was unconscious, with blood pouring from a huge gash on her forehead from the impact. "Serves you right!" He yelled, even though she could not hear him. The ginger tom glanced back at his ankles and, to his dismay, he noticed that his right ankle was bleeding profusely. "Cats who make me bleed die a bad death." He growled, dropped the queen to the floor and grabbed her tail. He looked to the next den and began to make his move.

Macavity limped through the shadows behind the flaming infirmary, behind the next den to remain out of sight. As he moved he brought Etcetera along the way, literally dragging the queen by her tail, making her face and body grind against the ground. Macavity darted from den-to-den like this, trying to find a way out. He knew that his injuries were too severe to sustain any kind of a fight. He made a mental promise to return for Tantomile at a later date, when she was not expecting it.

The ginger tom began looking for the easiest way out. The route directly ahead was unclear, but he assumed it would lead close to the main entrance, while a direct left would lead into the main clearing. Turning right was unnecessarily dangerous – it sloped sharply into a pit, where the humans appeared to discard broken glass. For a moment he considered throwing Etcetera into it.

He thought better. She would be a useful hostage if things turned sour.

The forward route appeared to be the best option. He continued on, dragging the poor queen along the ground as he went, yet he was forced to stop when he saw one of the cats he had brought as a bodyguard thrown to the ground a few yards in front of him. Macavity quietly cursed as he considered that this meant they had lost the fight. He had to stop himself from screaming in anger when he saw the Rum Tum Tugger jump onto the cat, laying a few brutal punches to his face.

Macavity took a left and ended up in the main clearing. Frustrated as he saw the ongoing fight, which his cats were easily losing due to the sheer number of the Jellicles, he cursed and gave a kick to Etcetera's gut. He scanned the battleground and noticed a few things, most importantly Coricopat coming out of the infirmary carrying Tumblebrutus and Jemima, and Tantomile carrying Pouncival. Macavity growled as he saw his prize so near and yet so far. He could see the exit, he had Etcetera... but his pride got the better of him. Macavity decided to turn and retreat back the way he came, to return to the infirmary and get the jump on Tantomile. Etcetera would not do.

He began to enact the plan, making it back to the route before everything went wrong. Tugger lifted the beaten cat and heaved the unconscious animal onto his shoulder, drawing a deep breath as he intended to return to the clearing – but this plan was also to fail, as upon turning around he found himself staring directly at Macavity. There was a moment of silence before Tugger began a sharp approach, but Macavity yanked up Etcetera by her tail and grabbed the scruff of her neck again, stopping Tugger by placing his claws to the queen's throat. "Let's not have blood on our hands." Macavity scowled.

Tugger shook his head. "There's no situation where you hurt her and live to tell the tale." He warned, unsheathing his claws and flexing. "If you try and take her away from me, I swear I will..." He glanced to the tom on his shoulder and threw him on the ground. "I'll take something important to you and make you eat it." He was growling. Etcetera was still unconscious. After being dragged along the ground so awfully, her gash was now a very serious bloody mess.

Macavity shrugged. "No you won't." He said simply, taking a few steps toward the infirmary. Tugger took another step forward, but again Macavity stopped him by pressing his claws against Etcetera's throat. Tugger yelled at Macavity to stop and the ginger tom began to consider his options. The injury to his ankle was severe and he felt physically exhausted from the magical exertions of the day, whereas Tugger looked fresh and lively.

Those were not good chances. Though Macavity was convinced he could get the better of Tugger, it would surely exhaust him to the point where escape would no longer be an option. Looking for another way out, Macavity once again considered the pit to his side. It was filled with discarded glass, mostly shattered. Perhaps he could escape through that route – no, it would be suicide. Too much glass, too many cuts. Too much pain.

Tugger caught Macavity's gaze and fiercely hissed. "Don't do it, don't you dare do it, I will rip you into tiny pieces if you even think about it!"

Macavity had not thought about it, not what was on Tugger's mind at any rate. But that combination of words sparked something in the ginger tom's depraved head, and suddenly he had the easiest escape clause he had ever come across. Just as he had before, Macavity lifted Etcetera by the scruff of her neck and her lower back. Tugger dove at Macavity and managed to tackle him to the ground, but it came moments too late as the ginger tom threw Etcetera's unconscious body over the gap and into the pit.

She crashed with a sickening sound, the crashing of glass louder than Tugger had ever heard. The tom yelled with a remarkable volume as he attacked Macavity with great ferocity, laying an utterly brutal set of slashes to his face. Macavity recoiled in pain at the attacks, lifting his arms to cover his face. Tugger would not relent as he now slashed the ginger tom's arms, dragging several dreadful swipes through his flesh. Only when Macavity was bleeding horribly did Tugger stop, and only then to stand and look into the pit.

"You're lucky I didn't kill you." Tugger said quietly as he looked around for something to help him get down there. It was a steep near-vertical drop; though he was sure he could climb down, climbing up would be impossible with Etcetera in tow. "If you weren't my brother you would be dead right now, I hope you understand that." He wanted a rope of some kind, but there was nothing that caught his eye. He turned to see that Macavity had not moved from where he lay on the floor – in fact, he now looked utterly limp.

"Perhaps you'll bleed to death and I won't have to bear the burden of killing my own flesh and blood." Tugger cocked his head as he saw that Macavity was no longer moving – no, this was not helpful. He turned his back on the tom and looked around for a rope again. He had to get down there and retrieve Etcetera, get her bandaged up and into care. So long as he acted quickly, she would be fine. Anything else would not be fair.

Of course, life sometimes has a way of not being fair.

Macavity made it his way of life. The ginger tom opened his eyes and looked at Tugger, standing over that pit. Within a moment he had crept to his feet, inwardly delighted with his performance of playing dead. A fight would have been impossible, but pretending to lose, feigning exhaustion – that was easy. The scratch marks on his face would only add to the scars sustained elsewhere, while the awful wounds on his arms... might be a problem, on second thought. Macavity glanced at his wrists. The bleeding was terrible.

He stared at the back of Tugger's head and considered his options. His plan had worked – he had created a distraction, taking an acceptable amount of damage and would be able to slip away undetected. A sane cat would have slipped away, but then again, a sane cat would not have been able to brush away awful pain and injuries as 'an acceptable amount of damage'. Macavity was not what anyone would call 'sane'.

The injuries to his wrists were so severe that it built a rage inside the ginger tom. He focussed his energy and poured that volatile anger into his paws, building a fireball into existence. Tugger turned his head only soon enough to see the fireball fly towards him, unable to react fast enough to dodge. When the fireball collided with his chest, taking him from his feet and through the air, Tugger only thought of two things as he cascaded backwards and into the pit.

First, he thought of the sight of Macavity. The awful red fur of the disgusting tom, the terrible burning eyes, the hideous fur, and the sickening broad smile that covered his face as he did this to his own brother.

Second, he thought of Etcetera. He decided that no matter how much it hurt when the fireball hit him, no matter how much it burned and devastated his fur, and no matter how agonising it would be when he crashed into the broken glass that littered the bottom of the pit... he would save Etcetera. He would not let her die like this, however awful her wounds may have been, he would rescue her.

Macavity lowered his paws and drew in a number of sharp breaths. His body was weakening. He glanced back at his ankle again, where the bleeding had more or less subsided – the same could not be said for his lower arms. The bleeding was terrible, his dirty red fur now glistened with his blood. This would not do, the wounds were deeper than he had original thought. By all accounts, he now had even less time to get what he wanted, to get Tantomile. This would require a change of plans. The sickening crash that came from the pit put a smile on his face however, providing some much needed motivation to carry on.

Macavity approached the pit and looked down. He saw Tugger and Etcetera both lying in a bath of glass, with the tom struggling to move. Macavity shook his head in disbelief that Tugger was even alive, let alone actually moving. "Idiot." He mumbled, taking a step back and looking around. He counted his blessings that nobody was nearby before glancing at the infirmary. The flames had spread much further than before and attached themselves to nearby dens, catching them alight as well. Perhaps the Junkyard would burn to the ground and none of this would matter.

The fact was that Macavity always came prepared with a backup plan – it was just that he had failed to consider a circumstance where he would have met so much resistance. With Munkustrap and Mistoffelees predisposed, he had considered that this would be easy. Perhaps he had gotten too confident. Despite the amount of energy his backup plan would use, the ginger tom knew it was his only option if he was to steal Tantomile.

Looking into his paws once more, Macavity began to conjure an item into existence. He closed his eyes and focussed all of his energy onto his creation. The item began to flicker into reality, as though it were being stolen from another dimension, or somehow teleported from a different location. The latter was more to the point, though the true nature of this incredible conjuration was such that even Macavity could not truly understand it.

When Macavity opened his eyes, there was a collar in his paws. A bright pink, studded collar. For a moment he dropped to one knee, drawing in a series of deep breaths. His body felt weak, but his mind was willing. A few more long breaths and Macavity made it back to his feet. He began slowly re-approaching the infirmary, still limping quite heavily from the earlier ankle injury. He looked at the fluorescent pink collar in his paw and laughed to himself.

The reason for his laughter was complicated, but it could be safely assumed that this was no ordinary collar. What it was, in fact, was a collar that prevented magic use. The exact mechanics of this could be simply summarised as Macavity pouring part of his magical ability into the collar, so that the wearer would be unable to use any form of magic. He knew that this plan would require some incredible focus to pull off.

Now back to the destroyed infirmary wall, Macavity looked through the building and saw that most of the building had collapsed. Nonetheless, there was still a clear path. He had come this far. Macavity quickly decided to take the risk and kept himself low, stepping over part of the wall and crawling through the burning building. The pathway remained clear for him and the journey became simple.

Keeping low to the floor so as to not breathe in the heavy smoke, he snaked forward with a clear focus in mind. His movements swiftly slowed as he brought a paw to cover his mouth. He could not cough or splutter in any way, he could not allow the others to be alerted to his presence. Macavity pressed forwards, passing by the great fires that littered the building before finding a way to escape through the main entrance without further harming himself. He did so quietly, with truly calculated movements. Finally he felt fresh air on his face.

Upon exiting the burning infirmary, Macavity found himself standing directly behind five cats who were trying to stay out of the fighting. He had to restrain himself from laughing after his plan had gone so well. He could see the unconscious frame of Tumblebrutus, with Jemima lying beside him on the ground, gripping her chest tightly as a result of his earlier attack. Coricopat was standing furthest forward, evidently as guardian to fend off any attackers, with Tantomile and Pouncival sat together. The small tom was cradled in her arms, eyes shut tightly. Macavity smirked as he looked directly at his prize.

Using the element of surprise, Macavity was able to do what nobody expected – dashing forwards and past Tumblebrutus, he first cracked Tantomile in the side of the head with a fierce elbow and dived forward to bite the scruff of Pouncival's neck. He lifted the tom like a puppet and turned to run, taking the moment to carry his prize away. Pouncival remained utterly limp in his maw, as would any cat when held by the scruff of his neck. Utterly terrified yet completely paralysed, he was unable to fight back.

Tantomile was on her feet in moments. Nobody could have said anything in that moment to calm the burning fear that flowed through her veins. She had promised Pouncival that no harm would come to him, but now... no. She ran. Coricopat glanced at the ongoing fight as he was about to follow her, but Jemima loudly groaned and he stopped. He looked back to see Jemima and Tumblebrutus. Jemima looked at Coricopat and pointed, urging him to go after Pouncival, but he shook his head and returned to the two cats. He sat between them and shook his head softly. Nobody would be taking them away from him. He had to trust Tantomile, trust the rest of the tribe.

Macavity fought his way through the crowd to try and get to an exit, but through the violent fighting he could not see a clear path. With Tantomile also limping from her awful ankle injury, she was unable to gain on him but was able to follow. She saw that Macavity was looking around desperately, with Pouncival dangling in his clutches. Blood was dripping from Macavity's wrists and he was limping even more than before. In the absolute chaos, Macavity sharply turned away from the main exit and Tantomile was on his tail, but only fast enough to see his plan play out.

Macavity jumped ontop of a discarded refrigerator and swung open the door. He released Pouncival and dropped him into the metal structure before slamming it shut. Glancing back at Tantomile, he put the pink collar on top before placing his paws beside it and shutting his eyes briefly. He began muttering under his breath, imparting further magic onto the fridge, sealing it shut. The way these old models were made, it was impossible to open from the inside anyway, but with the addition of his magic it became next to impossible to open from the outside as well. He opened his eyes and grabbed the collar, turning sharply to see Tantomile approaching. He jumped on top of the fridge and stood tall on it, observing the battleground.

Macavity instantly realised that he had lost the battle.

He yelled for his cats to fight on, which they attempted to do, but it was abundantly clear that the Jellicles had managed to get the upper-hand. He saw his own cats dropping like flies one after another, pinned down due to sheer numbers. The ginger cat screamed in anger as he saw what was happening. Fire began to form on his paws as Tantomile was suddenly not the only cat approaching him. He began to yell, but was completely cut off by Tantomile doing some yelling of her own.

You see, the anger on his face did not phase her, the terror in his voice did not phase her, not even the fire on his paws could phase her. Tantomile screamed with absolute anger and ferocity, "He has Pouncival!" The words came with such piercing volume that it acted like a burst of energy to motivate the battlefield. The Jellicles finished off the last of Macavity's cats, with Bombalurina hitting the final blow to drop the last brute.

Macavity glanced up and pointed at the infirmary. The fire had overtaken the structure and started spreading onto another den. Alonzo yelled as he watched his home destroyed. He growled and took a run at Macavity, who threw flames at him. The flames hit the ground, stopping Alonzo dead in his tracks. He then threw more flames, taking the Jellicles by surprise. "Any more moves towards me and I set the fridge on fire." He warned the tribe. "But then, your mages cannot put out the fire while I'm here, as my magic stops theirs from functioning. So, simple deal. Everyone back away and Tantomile comes with me out of here. Everyone lives, you can save the cat in here, and your homes are safe."

There were still small movements. The mob was building. Tantomile could not bear to watch as she tried to stop the small advances, but there were so many cats she could do nothing. She could not believe it would end like this, a crowd of animals so intent on attacking Macavity, on punishing him for attacking their Junkyard and burning their homes... to think that he would kill Pouncival because of mob mentality, that it could end so simply. She had to fight off tears, she felt like a failure for not protecting Pouncival, which was the only thing she felt that she lived to do.

As the flames continued to spread between dens, murmurings started to spread between the crowd that unless some action was taken, all the homes would be destroyed. This was why they continued to shuffle forward, to save their homes. They had to take out Macavity so that something could be done. As Tantomile shook her head desperately, trying to talk some sense that Pouncival's life was worth saving, an unexpected voice made the crowd stop.

Old Deuteronomy.

His calm voice belayed the burning flames. "Let us all take a few steps back." He said softly. The Jellicles instantly followed his request, leaving Tantomile standing alone between the tribe and Macavity. Old Deuteronomy stepped from the crowd and tried to talk some sense into the ginger tom. "Why would you do this?" He asked simply, able to approach Tantomile and glance at her. She looked at him desperately.

The fire on Macavity's paws went out as he looked at Deuteronomy carefully. "My magic is preventing anyone from doing anything to stop the fires. They aren't stupid enough to attack me, so they'll let me go. You will let me go. And she will come with me." He glared at Tantomile, clutching the pink collar tightly. She shook her head and took a step closer to Deuteronomy.

"You cannot truly believe that the words you speak will come to pass." The old tom took a step closer. "You are my son, but you have committed such atrocities today that cannot be ignored. You will step down from there, release the cat you hold hostage and give yourself up. Only by such an act of submissiveness will this end without one more death." Deuteronomy's stern expression was at complete odds with his calm voice.

Macavity shook his head. "We shall have to agree to disagree, Pa." He turned his attention to Tantomile. "Give yourself up to me and your lover does not die." Tantomile shook her head. Macavity stomped on the fridge. "I'll call this off and everyone will live if you give yourself to me." Tantomile again shook her head angrily and Macavity stomped harder. Tantomile yelled for him to stop but Macavity simply scowled. This would call for something drastic. The final trick up his sleeve... a lie.

"Look around yourselves!" He called out. "All the Jellicles standing here, look around yourselves and see who is missing! See who have all died by my hand so far! Your protector Munkustrap, your magical Mistoffelees, your charismatic Rum Tum Tugger and... well, a kitten!" The dissent instantly grew in the crowd, the fear and worry that what he said might be true. Whatever the case, the three named cats were missing, as well as a kitten, who was quickly named.

"Etcetera!" Jemima yelled out. Coricopat had carried Tumblebrutus and Jemima to the main group so that they could be treated, but no such treatment was forthcoming, not with the fires raging on as they did. The infirmary was now nothing more than rubble, while many other dens had also been reduced to ash. Yet Jemima had gone against Coricopat's instructions and got to her feet, with one arm desperately wrapped around the deep wound on her chest. "Her name is Etcetera!" She yelled.

Macavity smiled as he lowered his voice to talk to Tantomile once more, though the sight he saw completely took him aback. He had been so fixated on the tribe, he had lost focus on Tantomile. And the funny thing was... she wasn't there. His earlier claims of murder had been intended to scare the tribe and provoke Tantomile into doing something stupid. He simply had not realised just how much it would provoke her and just how stupid her actions would be.

Tantomile was standing on the refrigerator, her claws unsheathed. She was growling, a real ferocity in her eyes. Macavity turned to face her, shocked and surprised by her actions. They did not seem to make any sense, why would she care so much about Munkustrap, Tugger, Etcetera or... suddenly, it all made a great deal of sense. Macavity smirked. "Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot you were in love with Mistoffelees."

The fear that had been plaguing her since Macavity took Pouncival had been palpable. It had stirred something painful inside her, but nothing could have prepared her for his revelation about Mistoffelees. As far as she could understand, he was telling the truth. Nothing scared her more. To think that she had lost him, that he could be gone so easily, it was terrible. She had just been with him this morning, just rekindled her friendship with him the night before. It was not fair. She could not lose Pouncival as well.

Tears were streaming down Tantomile's cheeks as she stood directly in front of Macavity. "You don't get to kill my mate as well!" She yelled, but her attempts at an attack were thwarted by Macavity starting fire in his paws. "Everybody dies. Don't add another name to the list. Don't lose everyone important to you." She wanted to scream in anger and curl up into a ball. She wanted this all to end, she wanted him to be wrong. But things could only get worse.

"You see? I bring death. And guess what? I sealed this thing up tight. No air in or out." He was talking in short, sharp statements, it was as if his entire demeanour had changed. "My guess? At this point, probably less than a minute before he dies. You kind of need air to breathe." Tantomile made a step forward but Macavity only offered up that pink, studded collar. "You put this on and I open this up. It's an easy decision."

Tantomile looked at the collar for only a moment before growling. She could sense some horribly dark magic. "I wear this and you save him." She said simply, but was interrupted by Deuteronomy. "I do not believe that this needs to be settled in such a way." He added, causing both cats to turn and see that the tribe had approached incredibly close. They had surrounded the refrigerator, leaving no escape route. Macavity did not give up.

He stepped closer to Tantomile and offered her the collar again. "It will kill your magic." He said simply as her expression changed to shock. "It needs magic to take off, so you will not be able to remove it once you put it on." The fiery red of his paws started changing colour, a mild glow encompassing them. "Wear it and I open this thing. You know I've sealed it, you know he has less than half a minute to live. You know this is your only choice to save his life."

Deuteronomy stepped forward and told her not to do it, but Tantomile shook her head. She reached forward and snatched the collar from Macavity's paws. "Open it." She snapped, but Macavity shook his head, motioning for her to put on the collar. It was demeaning, in front of the entire tribe to be reduced to this... but she agreed with him. He was logical, if insane. She knew that even if they took Macavity, beat him up, they would not kill him. As long as he was nearby, the magic would not abate. This was truly the only way she could see that Pouncival would live.

And she could not lose him as well.

Tears streamed down Tantomile's cheeks as she wrapped the collar around her own neck. The queen looked utterly desolate as she clasped it shut, then felt even worse when it tightened. Not too tight to choke her, but tight enough to be painful. Macavity only laughed as he jumped forwards, smashing her in the face with a brutal punch. He stood over her, fire in his paws to stop other cats from approaching, but stopped suddenly. Everyone stopped.

Water poured from the sky.

Macavity looked upwards at the pouring water, water that cascaded onto all of them despite a single cloud in the sky. "No clouds, yet you have water? But there cannot be magic! I prevent magic! My mere presence prevents any kind of magic!" He screamed in disbelief, looking frantically at the fires he had started – they were all being extinguished.

The water started falling heavier, crashing down upon them all. Macavity was correct when he stated that it could not have been one of the other cats – indeed, his magic was still in full effect. The thing is, a fire cannot start in the middle of central London without the humans taking note. While it can sometimes take a little while to get there, the fire department are remarkably good at putting out fires. This was all beyond Macavity's comprehension of course, and he suddenly found himself in a fit of terror.

Where he once held all of the cards, he now had nothing. Tantomile tried to move but Macavity kicked her. The flames in his paws kept extinguishing and reigniting, terribly draining his magic. He was still in charge, despite all of his backup plans dissipating. To have defeat grasped from the claws of victory seemed to insidiously unfair to him.

But then, as Etcetera knew, life sometimes has a way of being terribly unfair.

Macavity glanced behind him to see the last thing he wanted to see. The one cat who he knew to be brave enough to challenge him at this moment, the cat he claimed to have murdered only minutes ago. The cat who, truthfully, had been captured in a vision, who had just felt the awful feeling of death taking him.

Munkustrap had climbed onto the fridge. Macavity attempted to throw fire at him, but the rain would not allow him to. He then tried electricity, but the incredible downpour of water only caused him to shock himself. He had no more time. The tom grabbed Tantomile by the scruff of her neck and jumped into the crowd, but was quickly taken down. Bombalurina and Demeter hit him with hard swipes, Coricopat jammed an awful punch into his side, but Jemima took him down – she dove and dug her teeth into Macavity's heel, clamping down hard on his torn tendon.

The terrible scream that erupted from Macavity's mouth caused him to drop Tantomile, who collapsed on the ground with an awful thud. Plato and Admetus were quickly by her side, tending to her. All she wanted to do was cry for them to save Pouncival, but all she could do was mumble a series of nonsensical statements as emotion overtook her. The idea that Mistoffelees was gone had taken away her ability to speak, she was almost hysterical.

But mercifully for Tantomile, she would not be tormented by this abhorrent lie for much longer. As she watched Macavity being beaten, a familiar black-and-white tom emerged from the crowd. Her heart skipped a beat as Mistoffelees laid a brutal kick into Macavity's head. And again. And again. And again.

Mistoffelees rolled Macavity onto his back and jumped ontop of him, placing his claws at the ginger tom's throat. He was about to do it, but Munkustrap stopped him. He knelt down and placed a paw on Mistoffelees' shoulder. "You're not a murderer." He told the smaller tom, which only forced a chuckle from Macavity's throat. "You're such a weakling." He laughed, eyes gleaming with fire. Those piercing eyes that could haunt dreams, that had been responsible for this heinous day...

Mistoffelees was not dead. This knowledge was enough to smack some sense into Tantomile's mind and get out the words most important to her – she screamed for someone to break open the fridge and save Pouncival. Little did she know that Cassandra, Electra, Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer had been trying to do just that, but in this insidious rain it was proving too difficult to get a grip on anything. They could not overcome the seal that Macavity had placed on it.

Deuteronomy ordered Macavity to stop preventing them from using magic, to allow them to open it, but the ginger tom refused with a wicked smirk. He started laughing fiercely, staring deeply into Mistoffelees' eyes. "Watch your friend die." He gloated, before the laughter stopped with a sudden thud.

Munkustrap had lost all of his composure. With a fierce movement he had stomped brutally on Macavity's head with his heel, a strike to the forehead so fierce that it knocked him unconscious. Mistoffelees tried to make sparks appear in his paws and found that he could, which made him release Macavity. Tantomile tried to jump onto her feet and sprint for the refrigerator, but after a few limps she dropped to the ground. When Mistoffelees turned, he saw that there was no need anymore.

Coricopat was standing at the refrigerator. With a burst of fierce magic he exploded the latch holding it shut, and with the assistance of a few other cats managed to push the door open. Coricopat reached in and pulled out Pouncival, who he quickly saw was not breathing. A cursory glance showed claw marks on the door, as well as terrible bruises on the tom's arms and paws. He pulled him onto the ground and yelled for some kind of cover from the pouring rain. For a brief moment, nobody acted. Then half the tribe was at his side trying to provide some kind of cover from the pounding water. As if by magic, it finally stopped.

After all, the fires had been extinguished.

Coricopat pressed the heel of his paw into the centre of Pouncival's chest, placing the other paw on top and pressing down repeatedly. He tried to remain calm, to copy the actions he had learned exactly. With the rain mercifully ending he knew there was at least a chance of saving this tom. Coricopat lifted Pouncival's head gently, pinched his nose and sealed their lips together. He poured a few firm and steady breaths into his mouth before starting again on his chest.

With no more fires and no more rain, with Macavity unconscious and with his claims of murders so provably wrong (Munkustrap and Mistoffelees were both quite clearly alive), the tribe could be forgiven a moment of joy. This appeared to be over.

But as time crept on and Coricopat continued to pound Pouncival's chest and breathe into his mouth, a tense moment turned into something more depressing. Mistoffelees came to Tantomile's side, but she only begged for him to take her closer to Pouncival. It had been over a minute. Probably one of the slowest minutes of her life. Mistoffelees did not want to, instead he told Tantomile not to, but she would not listen. She pushed him away and stumbled forward, managing to approach and collapse to her knees beside Coricopat.

She looked at her brother, who did not glance away. He kept going with the CPR, kept breathing and pounding and pressing and praying. Tantomile could only look sadly at the unmoving form of Pouncival, a sight that made tears fill her face as a loud bawl of sadness erupted from her mouth. She screamed a scream louder than ever before, an incredible anguish of such incredible pain. No physical pain could match the agony that this sight caused her. It wasn't fair. This wasn't fair.

Mistoffelees' attempts to soothe Tantomile fell on deaf ears as she could not bear to look at him. Yet her agony drew Old Deuteronomy, who knelt beside her. He offered a paw to her, but she backed away and shook her head desperately. She screamed again and threw herself on her back, literally convulsing. She could not express this agony. She could not lose him.

Her scream was met with a yell from Coricopat. "I'm not going to stop!" He screamed, pressing on Pouncival's chest. "I'm not going to stop until you start breathing!" He was not screaming at Tantomile, he was screaming in anger. He was yelling at the motionless tom, trying to convince some part of him to try to hang on. "You can't leave me. You can't just stop."

Deuteronomy decided that if he could not help Tantomile, it was for him to assist Coricopat. He placed a paw on the tom's shoulder and spoke kindly to him. "You have tried wonderfully to help him... but you have also done all that you can." Coricopat instantly dismissed that statement. Deuteronomy shook his head. "He is too hurt to-" Coricopat suddenly growled and screamed in Deuteronomy's face, "Shut up! Please Pouncey, please..."

The older cat was taken aback, but he respected the tom's wishes. Though as he stood, he could not quite believe his eyes. Coricopat placed his lips to Pouncival's one final time before something incredible happened.

The magnificent irony that one cat's movement would cause everything else to stop was not lost on Mistoffelees, who started shaking Tantomile. She was utterly distraught, brought to hysterics by the perceived death of another she loved. But just as then, this belief was incorrect. "You won't believe it-" Mistoffelees said with a wide smile as he stared into Tantomile's eyes. "You won't believe it!" He yelled, lifting her to look.

Coricopat was sat back, laughing through tears of pure joy.

Pouncival was breathing.

Tantomile felt a surge of adrenaline drive through her body, giving her the momentary stamina to sit up and push herself forwards to be beside Pouncival. She stared at the small tom, a beaming smile etched onto her cheeks as she wrapped her arms gently around him. She pressed a big kiss onto his cheek – he opened his eyes and looked at her with a devastated expression. "Is it over?" He asked quietly, as Tantomile laid a number of small kisses and nuzzles on his face. "I thought I'd lost you." She cried, just hugging him. Coricopat joined with a comforting paw on Tantomile's head, offering her his support.

Everything was well. Just as everything had been so fantastically terrible mere moments ago, it had turned into something magnificent. A moment of pure joy between so many cats, to see this awfully heart-warming scene. It was like a miracle. It would have taken something heinous to end this moment, something so viciously unfair that he did not bear thinking about.

But then, as Etcetera and Macavity knew all too well, life sometimes has a way of being unfair.

The celebration turned incredibly sour when a piercing scream came from within the crowd. The scream came from Jemima, a yelling of obscenities and anger and anguish. For when everyone had been focussed on this one sight, nobody had turned around to look for other cats, to try and find those two cats mentioned in Macavity's speech that had not yet appeared. Jemima was the only one who still kept that in mind, and she had been the first to see the Rum Tum Tugger.

Tugger was walking back from behind a den, a limp Etcetera in his arms. Jemima could see that they were both covered in a series of awful cuts. Tugger was stumbling as he carried Etcetera, with both clearly bleeding. Their fur was bloodied, though the downpour of rain had done something to clean them. From the way Tugger was walking it was clear he was in immense pain, while as well as the cuts he had clearly been victim to Macavity as well – his chestfur, including much of his mane, was missing.

Members of the tribe quickly approached to offer their support, and Tugger put down Etcetera in front of Jellylorum. She quickly set about looking for a pulse and found one, which she announced. She cursed that the only bandages she knew of were in the infirmary, to which Coricopat instantly reacted. The tom jumped to his feet and ran for Tantomile's den – because he knew for a fact that she kept bandages there to treat Pouncival's wounds.

With this chaos of emotions, nobody had managed to do anything to soothe Jemima, who had darted through the bodies to make it by Etcetera's side. She broke down into tears to look at Etcetera, shaking her head in absolute disbelief. She could not believe her eyes to see Etcetera lying there, hardly breathing. It had to be some kind of lie, some sick and twisted joke played by Macavity. Etcetera could not be near death, she could not be so hurt. This was not fair.

Jellylorum tried to do something to soothe Etcetera, but the reality was that there was little to be done. Looking over the small queen's body, the copious slices and cuts coupled with the large gash on her forehead, there was not much she could do. Deciding to try and do something, Jellylorum decided to at least minimise her suffering. She set about removing the shards of glass from the queen's body.

Demeter sat beside Jemima and wrapped an arm around her. "I'm sorry..." She trailed off, not really knowing what to add. She knew why Jemima was taking this so hard and it pained her to see it. , Bombalurina had crouched down beside Tugger, who had progressed to a mental state beyond disbelief. He was completely forlorn, despressed into clear sadness. Bombalurina kissed him on the cheek and stroked his arm, looking him over. "You're hurt." She said simply. He did not answer.

Tugger shook his head. "I'm sorry I couldn't do more to help... I should have done more, I-" He was crying. Bombalurina told him to stop. "You did your best." She said quietly, looking at the wounds that littered his body. She saw an awful shard of glass digging into his thigh and looked at him sadly. "We need to tend to your wounds too." She started, but he quickly interrupted. "I'm not leaving her." He said simply.

In a sudden swing of emotion, Jemima pushed away Demeter and turned to Tugger, letting out a loud scream. "If this is your best I'd love to see your worst!" She yelled, earning a glare from Bombalurina for her troubles. Tugger shook his head sadly before nodding. Jemima did not relent. "She's going to die and it's your fault! You could have done something! You should have done something! How could you let this happen?" She panted before turning back to Etcetera. Tugger did not protest or try to deny her words. He simply looked at the floor and said, "You're right. I'm sorry."

Coricopat returned to the group with bandages from Tantomile's den. He knelt down beside Jemima and offered the bandages to Jellylorum, who sadly shook her head. Coricopat looked at Etcetera, who he could see was still breathing, and grabbed her arm. He started bandaging her as swiftly as he could. Jellylorum made no efforts to stop him, but she could see very clearly that it was a pointless exercise. The sheer number of wounds, coupled with bloodstains in her fur, meant that she had been bleeding for a while. The slight breathing only clarified that no amount of bandages would prevent this and worse still, the sheer amount of bleeding was so vast that it was unlikely bandages would actually do anything to stop it.

Jemima was crying dreadfully as she pushed past the rest of the cats and moved herself to Etcetera's head. She began stroking the queen's cheek before shuffling down onto her side. Jemima wrapped her arms around her, bloodying her fur as she embraced the unconscious queen. Jellylorum made an effort to stop her, as did Bombalurina, but Demeter acted as the voice of reason by stopping any intervention. "Let her comfort her," she said calmly, though exactly who was comforting who was up for debate.

Jemima began nuzzling Etcetera's cheek and kissing her softly. What Demeter already knew started to become very apparent to everyone watching as they saw such an incredible display of affection from the one cat to the other. Jemima's tears would not stop as she begged Etcetera to not give up. "Please baby, please..." she tightened her grip a little. "Please stay with me, please don't leave me alone... oh Cat... I don't want to be alone." Nothing would be able to soothe her terrors. This was her worst nightmare. "I'm so sorry I didn't have the courage before, but you're not leaving me until... until... until I tell you I love you." She nuzzled Etcetera's cheek amongst the tears. For those watching, which now amounted to the majority of the tribe, this was heartbreaking.

What came next, Jemima would come to remember as a miracle.

Etcetera, despite hardly taking in any breath and despite an inordinate amount of bleeding, softly opened her mouth and quietly uttered "I love you too."

The excitement that flushed through Jemima at hearing her speak was short-lived. She moved to look at Etcetera, but saw that the queen was not moving and her eyes were shut. Jemima nuzzled her. "Everything will be okay, I promise everything will be okay-" She whispered, moving to kiss the queen gently on the lips. Etcetera responded quieter than before. "I'll always love you..." The words dripped from her mouth so quietly they could hardly be heard.

Jemima cried as she held Etcetera. "Please hold on, please just stay with me." She nuzzled Etcetera again. "Please don't leave me..." As she spoke, Coricopat finished bandaging Etcetera's arm. A cursory glance at the bandages made for a distressing sight – they were all red. The blood had seeped through almost as quickly as he had fastened them. He realised then that the cuts were too deep and numerous, that his efforts were in vain. He put down the bandages and looked down.

Jemima looked over at him and shook her head in disbelief. "No!" She yelled at him. "Please, no! Don't stop! Just... just... do the thing you did to make Pounce wake up! Do that on her! Do it! Please Coricopat for the love of Cat please just do it! Please!" She was bargaining, but the tom shook his head sadly. Etcetera was no longer breathing.

Demeter wrapped her arms around Jemima to hug her, but she immediately started struggling. She broke free and moved to grab Etcetera again. This time the desperation was visible in every part of her as she pulled the queen into her arms and cradled her. Jemima could not stop crying. Demeter tried intervening again, but Jemima simply held Etcetera tighter, utterly refusing to let her go. She knew now that the bargaining was over, that any attempts to reason with anyone were in vain. Now there was only sadness.

Yet this sight stirred something within Tugger. He tried to say something but stopped himself, instead moving closer to sit beside Jemima. With shards of glass still stabbing into his fur, cuts and scratches littering his body, Tugger did not worry for himself. Nobody watching knew what they could possibly say, but Tugger at least tried. He offered her a hug, which she turned down by shaking her head. "I can't let her go." She said firmly, "I can't."

Tugger quietly responded, "You have to. His voice, usually confident and cocky, was now so vulnerable. He too could not bear what he saw. Jemima was clearly devastated. "She's still warm." She said with a broken voice. "She's still here with me..." It was then that Tugger realised what he needed to say. He moved and wrapped his arms around them both, before quietly offering the exact words that Jemima needed to hear. "You can let her go when you're ready, okay?"

Jemima nodded. In this moment of pain and agony, there was only one thing that she knew for sure.

It was the same thing that Tugger knew for sure, that Tantomile knew for sure, and that most of the cats watching this terrible scene knew for sure.

Macavity was going to die.


	6. A Respite from Nightmares

Chapter 6: A Respite from Nightmares

Mistoffelees and Munkustrap were stood in the middle of the silver tom's den.

The two toms shared almost no physical wounds between them, putting them in stark contrast to the numerous cats lying on makeshift beds on the floor. Cushions with blankets littered the floor of Munkustrap's den, with a hoarde of cats lying on them. This served a dual purpose. First, with the infirmary gone, it gave a place to the wounded to be treated. Second, it gave Munkustrap the chance to ask his tribe exactly what happened and find out the extent of their injuries.

A number of cats had taken vicious blows at the hands of Macavity's brutes. A cursory glance around the room showed at least ten cats with deep cuts and gashes, with even more suffering minor slashes. None of the injuries came close to those sustained by Etcetera of course, but Munkustrap tried not to think about her. It had been a few hours since that terrible scene unfolded in the middle of the Junkyard, since a whole tribe of cats watched Jemima break down into a depression around such an awful sight.

Mistoffelees caught Munkustrap's gaze and placed his paw on the taller tom's shoulder. "It's not your fault this happened." He said quietly. "Everyone is trying to come to terms with Etty-"

"It is my fault." Munkustrap shook his head. "My role in this tribe is to protect each and every one of you. Whenever a cat slips through the net, whenever I fail to prevent something like this from happening... the blame rests squarely at my feet. I will take responsibility for this, so others do not have to."

Mistoffelees was not sure what that meant. Was it a dig at him? He did feel partially responsible, after all it was his idea to try and rescue Tumblebrutus. Munkustrap had warned him not to, that this would be a terrible idea and only cause more suffering. How right he was. "You can't blame yourself for something you had nothing to do with." Mistoffelees said quietly.

Munkustrap just looked away. "I'm going to... talk to everyone. See how they're doing." They had been playing out this conversation over and over; he did not want to talk about it anymore. Instead, he was going to take his mind off it by offering warm hugs and cups of tea to whoever was interested. "Do you want to go check on upstairs again?"

Mistoffelees nodded. 'Upstairs' was code for where the more seriously injured cats were being kept. If Munkustrap did not want him around, then fine. The small tom left the room and began to move swiftly up the stairs, reaching the top and looking down the hallway. There were two doors on either side, making four rooms total. It had been quite noble of Munkustrap to just give up his entire den for these cats, not least because some of them were currently homeless thanks to Macavity's fire.

Mistoffelees stepped forward and paused to remember who was in each room. Tugger was in the first door on the right, being tended to by Bombalurina. Tantomile, Pouncival and Coricopat were in the first room on the left. The second room on the right was where Jemima was resting, with Demeter... he stopped for a moment to remember those horrible events from earlier. It had been a harrowing sight. That was not a room he had any interest in entering.

It was the last door that he wanted to enter, the second door on the left. Mistoffelees approached the room, knocking lightly before letting himself in. He did so with no trepidation, happy that this was a cat that would not blame him for any of this. But that did not mean that it was an easy sight to bear.

The room contained a tom receiving serious medical treatment – Tumblebrutus.

As he approached, Mistoffelees noticed that Jellylorum was in the room, finishing up tending to the tom. "Is he going to be able to wake up?" Mistoffelees asked simply. She had been with Tumblebrutus for the better part of three hours at this point, examining him. "He is still unconscious." Jellylorum replied, not really giving him a good answer. "I cannot speak for his internal injuries, but they seem numerous. If you have a strong stomach, come closer and look."

Mistoffelees obliged. It was strange – he had seen this cat a few times since his return, but so far had not paid enough close attention to see his injuries, if that made sense. The panic of the fire, downpour of rain, fear and sadness of the day had not allowed for a moment to simply look. But now, with no such fears compounding, Mistoffelees had a real chance to place his eyes on Tumblebrutus and one thing stuck out to him. One terrible, awful, disgusting thing that made him feel sick to his stomach and full of anger. "He has no whiskers."

Jellylorum nodded. "It goes deeper than that. His whiskers were not cut or sliced off, they have been completely pulled out." Mistoffelees could not imagine what it must have felt like. He did not want to imagine. He was simply grateful that Tumblebrutus was safe from that monster. "What else?" Mistoffelees asked, though he partly did not want to know the answer. Upon hearing it, he wished he had not heard it.

"His tail." Jellylorum heaved a sigh before taking the unconscious tom's paw in hers and stroking it softly. "Has been removed. I do not want to speculate how."

Mistoffelees felt sick to his stomach. "Wh-what do you mean, 'removed'?" He stammered, staring blankly at Tumblebrutus. The tom looked in a terrible state – which perhaps would come as no surprise after two years of subservience to Macavity.

"It's gone." Jellylorum stated. "Removed entirely, almost surgically. The wound where it was removed is so clean, the scar tissue so old that I could speculate that it happened almost immediately." She also looked at his face, a forlorn expression on hers. "The same cannot be said for his whiskers. Those wounds are fresh, almost as if it happened today or yesterday. If he does wake up, I cannot imagine the agony that will cause him alone."

Mistoffelees felt as though he might vomit. The concept that there even existed a cat so depraved that he might do this to another, it made him so intensely angry. "He has cuts and scratches too."

"If only that were all of it." Jellylorum sighed and pointed at his feet. "His ankles are shattered in such a way that I cannot even begin to understand, I would struggle to see any situation where he could walk again. But also, his ears..." She released his paw and reached up to the tom's ears, touching them gently. They were shredded.

Mistoffelees could not quite believe his eyes. At first glance, Tumblebrutus' ears looked completely fine and normal, but as he reached to touch them as well, they were clearly not normal. Many large, long slits ran across his ears. "What does this mean?" He asked sharply, turning his head to Jellylorum. She shook her head. "I don't know. Perhaps he won't be able to hear very well-"

Mistoffelees shook his head as well and cut her off. "No, I mean, all of these injuries... what does it mean? Will he... I mean, will he be okay?" He looked Tumblebrutus over, really looking this time. There were so many other things that he had not even considered yet – missing fur in places, clear scars all over, and his ankles. They had been mauled.

Jellylorum looked down. "Well... I don't know." There was a moment of silence as she looked up to catch Mistoffelees' gaze, he was looking at Tumblebrutus' feet. "That is decidedly one of the most heinous parts of this." Jellylorum stated. "When I checked over his body for broken bones, I went over his legs and feet a few times. They are not well." She moved down to place her paw on Tumblebrutus' thigh. Then she paused a little and bit her lip. "We don't have to talk about this though."

Mistoffelees moved to place his paw on Tumblebrutus' other thigh. "I need to hear this." He knew that she was just trying to spare him the horrible knowledge, but it was his belief that this was very important for him to hear. "When Tantomile wakes, I need to know this. I want to stay here with her, help her with Pouncival, help her... well, now with Tumblebrutus."

Jellylorum shook her head. "That burden does not rest on you or her. I can look after him-" But Mistoffelees interrupted her again. "You're needed elsewhere. Just ask Munkustrap, he will tell you the same thing." He was speaking with a real authority to his voice. Munkustrap would have been proud. "You do so much here, you can't take on someone who needs full-time care as well."

"You can't either." Jellylorum responded swiftly. "Your life cannot be devoted to becoming a tom's full-time carer. There are so many cats here, many of whom would help if you just asked. Tumblebrutus had a lot of friends before he was cruelly taken from us – I think it may be a little short-sighted of you to assume that none of them will have a vested interest in whether he gets better or not."

Mistoffelees blinked. He had not thought of that. Whenever he considered the future, it always came back to him helping Tumblebrutus get better. He considered whether he just wanted to be the hero. "Who?" He asked quietly. As much as he wanted to help Tumblebrutus now, he had not really known the tom before. They had shared a few jokes, but they were hardly best friends.

"What could you possibly mean by that?" Jellylorum asked, taken aback by his question. "He and Pouncival were incredibly popular. Would you like a list of their closest friends from back in the day? I recall Plato, Admetus, Victoria, Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer were very close to them, so if you're intending on asking for assistance those should be the first names on your list." That was not a suggestion.

Mistoffelees nodded. "How can you possibly remember all of this?" He asked with a half-smile.

"You should never count out us old fools, we always manage to come up with important things." Jellylorum mimicked his expression. "Perhaps when you get older your memory actually gets better, perhaps a few years ago I paid closer attention than you. Or, perhaps, I simply listed off the names of the cats who have come to visit him so far." She outwardly smirked. "Yourself notwithstanding. You would be top of the list."

Mistoffelees smiled. "Okay. I'll talk to them, to see if they will help me care for him."

Jellylorum stopped. This still did not add up to her – why did Mistoffelees care so much about him? Was he just trying to help Munkustrap, or did this go further?

Oh.

Something clicked in her head as she ran through their previous conversation. It was something he had said. "When Tantomile wakes." Jellylorum repeated. "She-"

"I know, okay, I know." Mistoffelees spoke very quickly to stop her from saying anything else. "It's complicated."

"I bet it is." The older queen replied, looking back at Tumblebrutus. "You're in love with someone who quite clearly loves somebody else."

Mistoffelees shook his head. "It isn't as simple as that. It's only been a day, I... look. Tantomile will try and do this alone, but she can't do this alone and I can't watch her waste away. Hopefully for all of our sakes seeing Tumblebrutus awake will do something to make Pouncival less hurt, which will in turn make his life more bearable and her life more bearable and then nobody will starve themselves to death."

There was a pause before he added, "So please do not give me a lecture or question my decision, because you ought to believe me when I say I have run through every possible outcome in my mind."

"Do you find happiness in any of them?" Jellylorum did not look at him as she asked.

"...no." Mistoffelees said quietly. "Probably not. Any situation where she ends up with me, Pouncival can't deal with it and goes off the rails again. And any situation where she doesn't end up with me... I..." He stopped and turned around suddenly, a paw coming up to cover his eyes as he walked to the other side of the room. He placed his other paw against the wall and looked out the window.

Jellylorum reacted as any maternal figure would, by coming to his aid. She released Tumblebrutus and walked around the bed, approaching Mistoffelees at the other side of the room. "Hey, now..." She started, placing a paw on his shoulder. "Munkustrap filled me in on what happened to you both. I don't think there is a cat in this 'yard that will forget this day easily, but you more than most have had a terrible day-"

"No I haven't." Mistoffelees cut her off, not wanting to look at her as his paw continued to cover his eyes. "I was in a vision, it wasn't real. These cats here experienced real hardship, real loss. Getting my throat cut in a dream doesn't count."

"Munkustrap told me what you had to do to him." She said quietly, taking his paw away from his face. "If you want to cry, you're allowed. Nobody is going to look down on you for it."

For a brief moment nothing happened. Mistoffelees continued looking out the window, trying to avoid thinking about everything. But then it all got a little bit too much for him and he crumbled, turning and hugging Jellylorum. He fell into her embrace, placing his head against her shoulder and having himself a little cry.

Neither of them spoke as they hugged. Words seemed a little pointless as Jellylorum knew now the true extent of the demons that were haunting Mistoffelees. The day's events had been foul, yet he was still carrying on as though they had not happened. He was still trying to act strong, to provide help to those that needed it at this trying time, though mentally he was exhausted and fragmented.

On top of all of this, she now knew the extent of his feelings towards Tantomile. Though she had been the one to use the word 'love', he did not deny it, and she knew that look. He quite clearly had very strong emotional feelings for her. Whether those feelings were reciprocal, she did not know – not that it particularly mattered. She was mated to Pouncival. Mistoffelees knew that, yet he was willing to sacrifice all of this for her...

A change of topic was needed. After holding him for a while, Jellylorum gave him a tight squeeze and then released the hug. She turned to Tumblebrutus. "I believe we were at his legs." She said slowly. Mistoffelees nodded and they reapproached, the black-and-white tom drying the tears from his eyes as they returned to Tumblebrutus' side.

When they stopped, Jellylorum ran her paw along the top of Tumblebrutus' thigh, encouraging Mistoffelees to do the same. "Feel the muscle. It's all weak, tartery. Like it hasn't been used in a while. Then feel his knee, it's not formed right, it feels like it's been broken and healed over and over." She lowered her paw to his calf. "His shins are not broken, but the muscle is almost non-existent. And then his feet... his poor feet." She placed her paw on Tumblebrutus' foot. Mistoffelees did the same. "Don't touch too hard." Jellylorum warned. "Just feel it for a little while. What do you feel?"

Mistoffelees did as instructed. It was safe to say that he did not like what he felt, not one bit. "They're so squishy..." He said ineloquently. Jellylorum sighed. "They have been broken and re-broken so often I do not believe they will ever heal. That is to say, it is my belief that almost every single day he has been held by Macavity, the bones in his feet were shattered. I can only imagine the agony that he must have been through, I..."

She paused, trailing off slightly. "It is wonderful that he is alive. Do not misunderstand me when I say this, but... with injuries like this, I cannot foresee a situation where he will ever walk again. Not just that, but I cannot even imagine a situation where he will ever live without some kind of pain. If he is lucky, that pain will not be crippling, but..." She trailed off again and heaved a small sigh. Mistoffelees nodded sadly.

"You wonder whether it is worth it at all." He said slowly.

She sighed again. "He's so terribly hurt. This is a tom who we all remember fondly for doing endless back-flips, yet now the concept of him even standing without assistance seems impossible. I mean, even if he could stand, if somehow his feet healed. He has no whiskers, no tail, how could he ever keep balance? He would fall over immediately. I suspect that is why they took his tail so early, to prevent him from ever escaping."

Mistoffelees placed his paw gently on Tumblebrutus' stomach. "At least they were feeding him well." He said simply, pressing very gently on his round belly.

Jellylorum glanced to the side. "Actually..." she started, gently patting his paw away. "That's what happens when you don't eat for a long time. Your body hangs onto every last bit of food or water that comes its way, and your stomach swells hugely, which causes really big problems. Let alone all of the beating, the terrible injuries he has sustained... he will be so susceptible to illness, to heart problems and so many other things. This is an insidious sign, the internal injuries from this alone could have done more damage than we know."

Mistoffelees looked at Tumblebrutus sadly. He felt guilty for even feeling sorry for himself at all when there was a cat so clearly bruised and broken in front of him. Tumblebrutus' physical injuries made his problems seem so trivial. But that was the thing – they were physical injuries. He had not even considered what mental state the tom would be in. "Do you think he will even know it is us?"

Jellylorum did not say anything for a while, before offering her opinion. "Two years with Macavity is... unthinkable. In a best-case scenario, he was locked in a cage for two years, beaten and starved, but kept alive. I keep looking at the way his body is right now, it's wrong, it looks wrong. I'm terrified that he's been almost stuffed in a cage too small to hold him. I... I don't want to think about it."

Mistoffelees paused as he considered his next question. He wondered if he wanted to know the answer. But if anyone knew the answer, Jellylorum might. She had spoken to stray cats that Macavity had tortured, she knew some of the inner-workings of that place. Mistoffelees drew a deep breath as he asked an almost impossible question: "What about a worst-case scenario?

Jellylorum responded with a long, drawn-out breath of her own. She looked at Tumblebrutus and sighed sadly. "In a worst-case scenario... he won't even remember himself, let alone us."

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Mistoffelees broke the silence. "I was going to check on the other room again." He said quietly, turning to face the door. He had got what he came to find out, but nothing could have prepared him for such a long list of terrible things. It seemed that there was no situation where Tumblebrutus was going to be fine, which hurt him. At least he now knew, though he was quite surprised by what Jellylorum said next.

"Actually, if you are leaving, I might come with you. I was hoping that Tantomile might wake up so I could ask her a few questions. I've taken care of her and Coricopat as best I could with what little tools I have available to me, but with a few questions I can hopefully find out if she has any internal injuries." She turned to collect a small box from the shelf behind her and moved to join Mistoffelees, who nodded.

"Okay. Do you think Coricopat is still awake?" He asked, opening the door to let Jellylorum through. She shrugged as they both walked into the next room along, to be greeted by a now familiar sight.

Both Jellylorum and Mistoffelees had entered this room a few times since it gained three new guests, and its layout had not changed one bit since the first time they visited. It seemed that the moment Coricopat, Tantomile and Pouncival were brought to this room, one of the inhabitants had gone a little crazy. A wardrobe had been pushed across the floor to press against the window, completely blocking out all light into the room. Cushions, blankets and mattresses had been strewn out to create a little space in the far corner of the room where all three of the cats were resting.

Most odd was that Coricopat was in the middle of the threesome. The awful attack that Tantomile had taken to her chest had made it impossible for Pouncival to rest against her, so they were lying in an unusual position. Coricopat was sat bolt upright, wide-awake and staring at the door. Tantomile was lying with her head rested on his thigh, staring directly at Pouncival who was lying with his head rested on Coricopat's other thigh. Though Pouncival was decidedly asleep, he and Tantomile were holding paws very tightly.

Mistoffelees approached the group with Jellylorum en tow, and gave Coricopat a half-smile. "You're allowed to sleep, y'know." He joked. "I won't judge you."

Coricopat had a stern expression on his face, not even mildly interested in engaging him. His eyes were almost bloodshot, perhaps due to the fact that he was hardly blinking. "Macavity almost took the two most important cats in my life away from me today. I'm never letting either of them go, ever." He stated bluntly, his paws lightly brushing through Tantomile and Pouncival's hair.

Mistoffelees blinked. He had not given any thought as to how Macavity's attempted kidnappings had affected Coricopat – and by the looks of things, Coricopat was not doing very well at all. Mistoffelees crouched down in front of the tom to get to his eye-level and gave him a soft nod. "Today must have been very difficult for you. For what it's worth, I saw what you did to save Pounce's life, and it was incredible."

Coricopat did not even react. No happiness, no joy, just a stoic indifference. "It was not enough." He said simply, shifting his gaze slightly so he was not looking directly at Mistoffelees. "If one more cat tries to congratulate me on doing the absolute bare minimum, I will get very angry indeed."

Mistoffelees could not understand his reaction. He had just saved a life! How could that not be cause for celebration? How could he possibly have done any more? It did not make any sense. "It's not your fault." He said simply, still not sure why Coricopat was so upset. "Whatever is upsetting you, it's not your fault-"

"Don't be an idiot." Coricopat snapped, though just about managing to keep his calm exterior. He was caught somewhere between serene and insane, with a calm voice marred by his very clear physical exhaustion. "If I had killed Macavity when I had the chance, none of this happens. Nobody here is hurt like this, Pounce never almost died, Tantomile did not almost get taken and Etcetera is still alive."

Mistoffelees was not given a chance to reply, as a familiar female voice quietly stated: "We're alive, aren't we?" Tantomile yawned as she pushed herself to be sat upright, grimaced and gripped her stomach, then returned to be lying down on the cushion. She rolled onto her back, propping her neck up against Coricopat to use his thigh as a pillow. "So don't be so stupid."

Coricopat smiled as he looked at Tantomile. The cold and calculated expression he had been using to talk to Mistoffelees had completely faded away, replaced with something warm and caring. He appeared genuinely happy to just be looking at Tantomile. "I could have saved her. You know that." As soon as his smile came, it went.

Tantomile huffed as she stared at Coricopat. "Don't be an idiot." She said with a pained expression. "You're lucky to be alive, all of us are. I mean, for the sake of the Everlasting Cat, you saved Pounce!" Tantomile tried to force a smile as she reached out to hold Coricopat's paw. "He's the most important thing in my life, I love him more than anything, to think that he almost... that you saved his life. My mate's life. So don't you dare start feeling sorry for yourself now, because I promise you that for as long as I live I'm going to treat you as the greatest superhero of all time for saving my Pounce."

Coricopat tried not to laugh, but failed miserably. A small chuckle escaped from his lips and he leant down to kiss her on the cheek. They both knew that this conversation wasn't over, but at least for now they could enjoy a moment of happiness. The truth was that he would always blame himself, at least in part, for Etcetera's death. He would always feel that he could have done a little bit more to stop Macavity or a little bit more to convince the kittens to stay hidden in that infirmary, to not join the fight. This would be Coricopat's cross to bear. Though it would be tough, for now he knew that he could count on Tantomile to brighten his spirits.

"I'm glad to see that you're both in good spirits." Jellylorum stated as she knelt beside Tantomile, placing down a small box beside her. "Now that you're awake, it would be best if I examined you for any further injuries. I've done my best with the most obvious ones, but I need to know any others so that we can get you fit, healthy and ready to kick Macavity in the face."

Tantomile made an audible groan. "Do we have to?" She asked, moving her head to look at Jellylorum. "The last time anything hurt me even slightly you spent ages poking and prodding all over and right now I'm really not in the mood." Tantomile was holding both Coricopat and Pouncival's paws and gave them a small squeeze.

"I know you've had a rough day, dear. But if you can withstand the beating you took today, I'm sure you can manage a few questions." Jellylorum said as she opened the box on the floor. It contained a few medical supplies that she had salvaged from the burned-down infirmary. "I've already taken care of everything I could see. I just need to know more." Tantomile's ankle had been one of the clearest injuries that she had sustained – all of the fur was missing, with a set of minor burns. Jellylorum had already taken care of bandaging it up. "Where does it hurt the most?"

Tantomile closed her eyes and tried to imagine a world where she had not got hurt at all. She hated being the victim. "Does everywhere count as an answer?" She said without a hint of irony. "He hit me all over, he obviously wanted me to suffer... my chest and stomach are bad... my thighs too."

Jellylorum had seen earlier that Tantomile had taken some terrible hits. She had been missing patches of fur around her stomach and thighs, with a series of serious burn wounds in their place. Jellylorum had already taken care of these injuries as best she could. "When you were resting I gave you some basic treatment for them, I've bandaged them up for now. You had some very serious burns, I think it will be a while before you recover from them. How much does it hurt?"

Tantomile grimaced. "A lot." She said quietly. "Everywhere hurts." She clenched her fists and muttered something under her breath, attempting to cast a small spell to soothe her pain somewhat, but nothing happened. She repeated the action, again finding nothing happened. Suddenly the realisation hit and she released Coricopat and Pouncival's paws, lifting her own paws to her neck. Mentally Tantomile begged that she would not feel anything there, but sure enough she felt a collar.

She then panicked.

"I tried to take that off of you but it wouldn't- lie down!" Jellylorum interrupted herself as Tantomile suddenly sat up, trying to grip at the collar. Coricopat sprung into action and tried to help, but there was no clasp or anything. It was just a solid circle around her neck. "G-get this off me!" Tantomile squealed as she tried to tug at it – but the more she tried, the tighter it felt. Coricopat attempted to use some kind of magic to loosen it, but nothing would work. It was at this point that he realised none of his magic was working.

It was also around this point that he remembered exactly what had transpired out there a few hours earlier. Mistoffelees and Munkustrap only managed to intervene after Macavity had threatened Pouncival's life and forced Tantomile to put on the collar. He recalled what the ginger tom had claimed, that it would disable Tantomile's magic. "I can't find a way to loosen it, it's impossible."

Tantomile stopped tugging at the collar when she realised that it was tightening, a feeling that relaxed slightly when she let go. "Macavity tricked me into wearing it." She said quietly, she felt embarrassed and degraded. "I'm such an idiot."

Coricopat moved slightly so he could wrap both of his arms around Tantomile, giving her a warm hug. "You were just trying to do the right thing." He said calmly, knowing full well that nothing could be gained from trying to pull at the collar anymore. He resolved to try and work it out later, for now there were more important things. "Lie back down and let Jellylorum finish checking you're okay. I didn't save Pouncival's life just for you to die on me too-"

"You saved my life?" A voice said quietly from the corner of the room. Tantomile and Coricopat both sharply turned to see Pouncival sitting upright, clearly woken by all of the commotion. When they did not immediately respond, he spoke in a soft tone. "I remember I couldn't breathe and then I could but I was outside... Cori, did you save my life?"

Tantomile's panic completely went away at the sight of Pouncival being awake – being forced to wear a bright pink collar no longer seemed like such a big deal. Before Coricopat had a chance to respond, she was quick to speak. "He did, he totally and completely did. It was so heroic." Perhaps she could have expected what came next, though it made her smile no less.

Pouncival crawled forwards slowly, making the short distance to the twins and sitting upright beside them. He placed his arms around Coricopat's neck and with a burst of ferocious energy planted a number of kisses on the tom's face so vast that Tantomile would later recall as 'at least a million'. Pouncival tightened his arms and hugged the tom tightly, before falling into an old habit of talking too much. "You saved me I can't believe you saved me you should have seen it it was terrible it was so dark and I clawed and clawed and I punched and hit it but nothing worked and then I wasn't breathing and then I was and I was outside and you were laughing and everyone was happy and I can't believe you saved me-"

Tantomile was laughing at the wonderful sight. It did her no harm to see the tom she loved so incredibly happy, though that did put a small thought into her head. She glanced around the den quickly. Where was Mistoffelees? She could have sworn that he was just there... though the more that she thought about it, he had not been there for a while. Why? What possible reason could have made him leave so suddenly without saying anything?

What indeed.

It was around the point where Tantomile called Pouncival 'the most important thing' in her life, that she 'loves him more than anything', as well as the clarification that Pouncival was her mate. Those were three tough statements for Mistoffelees to hear, and he managed to react in a remarkably childish way by getting up and leaving the room. If he knew that Tantomile had not even noticed him leave for about ten minutes, that would have upset him further. Fortunately, that was knowledge he did not have.

Mistoffelees stood in the hallway, collecting his thoughts. It had been a tough day. Everything he had done, the hardships he had gone through with those two Macavity-infused visions, they were all for Tantomile. He felt as though she did not even care... no, that was not true. He knew that was not true and refused to feel sorry for himself right now. She had been through a terrible day, his feelings were rightly not at the top of her to-do list.

Mistoffelees resolved to get out of his own head by checking in on another cat. He walked directly across the hall and knocked on the door to Tugger's room, opening it up and entering. What he saw inside was a bit of a surprise – Tugger sat upright on the end of the bed, with Bombalurina beside him. "You're meant to be resting," Mistoffelees said simply as he closed the door behind himself.

"I've had a rough day, kiddo. If I want to chill on the end of this bed, then I will goddamn chill on the end of this bed." Tugger was putting on a brave exterior, but he looked rough. Jellylorum had clearly already visited him too, as he had bandages wrapped around his left thigh and calf, his upper arms and wrists. Clearly these were the places where the cuts had been their worst. Most visibly, he had a large set of bandages going across his chest. Mistoffelees recalled that he had been terribly burned there.

"I think Jellylorum's decided that she can fix every injury by covering it up with bandages." Mistoffelees said with a half-smile. "Tantomile and Coricopat look just like you, they're absolutely covered in them."

Bombalurina interrupted. "Actually, his bandages were my doing. Are you saying that I didn't do a very good job? How insulting." She smirked at Tugger, who gave her a playful shove. "Don't tease him." Tugger said with a smile, clearly in much better spirits than the desolate form that he cut a few hours earlier. "He's just a kitten."

Mistoffelees was happy to see that Tugger was coping with today's distressing events. "Except for the fact that I'm 21." He said bluntly, taking a seat in the room across from Tugger. "I'm not a kitten anymore."

Tugger stuck out his tongue. "Which one of us has had the harder day, hm? If I say you're a kitten, you're a kitten." Tugger flexed his arm a little and looked down at the damage. Even outside of the bandaging, there were so many tiny cuts and scratches. Bombalurina noticed him looking and patted his knee.

"I might go check on my sister for a little while, if you're okay with him for a bit." She said, lifting her paw to run it through Tugger's hair. Her sister, Demeter, was in the adjoining room with Jemima. Bombalurina had been waiting for an opportunity to go and see how they were coping. Tugger could be expected to put on a brave face, but Bombalurina had no doubt that Jemima would be utterly beside herself.

"I'm sure I can manage to keep him out of trouble for a little while." Mistoffelees said as he folded his arms. This was much easier. Light-hearted, simple, it was as if nothing terrible had happened today at all. Perhaps spending a little while with Tugger would be good for him. "If he tries anything funny, I'll use my magic to make him lie down."

Bombalurina took that as her cue to stand. "Hate to love you and leave you, but I'm off." She said with a chirp. As the queen opened the door she looked at Mistoffelees and gave him some stern advice: "Happy thoughts, okay? This is a good vibe zone. If I come back and you've brought him down I'll kick your tail off." And with that, she left. The door was closed shut and it was just Mistoffelees and Tugger alone in the room.

And for a moment, neither of them said anything. Then Tugger pushed himself back to lie on the large mattress. "Guess it's just you and me, alone for a little while. What will the neighbours think?" He grabbed a pillow to prop up against the back of his head for some support, and tapped the bed beside him. "Come and join me, kit."

Mistoffelees could not believe his eyes. "I'm pretty sure Bomby asked me to keep the mood up, not to sleep with you." He said with a smirk, shaking his head. "I'm amazed that you can even muster the energy to be so perverse. You can get all cut up and still have the libido of a wild animal."

Tugger shrugged and looked at his wrist again. The bandages had come slightly loose. But then, seemingly out of nowhere, he completely changed the conversation. "I almost died today, kit. That's really hard to come to terms with."

Either he was being serious or deliberately manipulative, but either way those words caused Mistoffelees to practically leap across the room and jump on the bed beside him. "But you didn't! You totally didn't, I know because you're talking to me right now." He said with a half-smile, before giving Tugger a soft punch on the shoulder. "But don't think I'm going to sleep with you just because we're both on this bed. I assure you, I'm not that easy."

Tugger couldn't help but smile. "You just won't allow me a moment of self-reflection, will you?" He said with a laugh. "Fine, then distract me. I'm sure you've got about a billion things going on in your life. A new girlfriend? Boyfriend?"

Mistoffelees shrugged. "Love isn't too interested in me at the moment." He grabbed a pillow to prop up his head as he relaxed beside Tugger. This mattress was far too comfortable. In fact, glancing around the room, he began to wonderful if it was Munkustrap's bedroom. It would make sense, this was the silver tom's den after all, and Tugger was his brother. "Yourself? Any new conquests to speak of?"

Tugger sighed and closed his eyes, resting his paws on his stomach. "Sorry, kit. Looks like I'm done with sleeping around. Besides, you're a terrible liar." He smirked to himself.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Mistoffelees asked as he tried to get comfortable lying beside Tugger. He glanced over at the tom and bit his lip at the sight. The bandages were fine, they covered up the worst of it. But he had so many tiny cuts, it was an absolute wonder that he had not been hurt worse.

"Come on now, kit." Tugger murred with a low, drole voice. "When you and Tantomile had that big fight last year, who was it you came to for a talk? Definitely me. Now you _magically_ appear at my bedside again. Either I'm completely off the mark or, more likely, you want to tell me something."

Mistoffelees gulped. "Since when were you a mind-reader? Here I thought I was the only magical cat in this room." He could not help but look at the larger tom's wounds. Even the smaller cuts looked like they must have hurt a lot. How could one cat take so much physical pain and still be fine? Hell, how could one cat take that much emotional pain too – it was no secret that Tugger and Etcetera were close. One pined after the other like a cat on heat. Mistoffelees did not want to burden Tugger with his problems as well, a fact that Tugger instantly picked up on.

"Is this going to be our relationship from now on?" Tugger asked as he opened his eyes to look at Mistoffelees. "You're just going to feel sorry for me and not tell me anything because you think I'm too hurt to give a damn?" He rolled his eyes. "Do me a favour and take my mind off the things that are hurting me right now."

"If you're really hurting that badly, you should talk about it." Mistoffelees replied with a shake of his head. "You can't in one breath say things are hurting you, then in another say that you're fine. Make up your mind, already."

Tugger was taken aback by his outburst, but surprisingly took it in his stride. "Okay, fine." He said simply. "I'm not okay. But you most definitely are not okay either. I've asked you about your relationships and you've deflected every time, so clearly there's something going on." He shuffled to sit up a little bit more, rubbing the back of his neck. "So here's a deal. I ask you something, you answer. You ask me something, I answer. Deal?"

Mistoffelees did not move for a little while, but after Tugger made his suggestion he shuffled positions as well so they were both sat up, side-by-side. "If that's what it will take to make you confront what happened today, then fine." He glanced over Tugger's body again. So many tiny cuts, he was going to have so many scars. "Tell me what happened."

Tugger paused for a moment as he considered what they were getting into. But he was curious about Mistoffelees' relationship, and as we all know, the Rum Tum Tugger is a curious cat. With that in mind, he responded with the truth. "If you go behind the infirmary, or at least, what's left of it... there's this pit. This big pit filled with glass." He paused for effect, before adding: "That happened."

Suddenly all of the cuts made sense, as did the shards of glass. Once Tugger said it, it all seemed so obvious. If Tugger fell in there, it was a wonder he was still alive... "Were you rescuing Etcetera, is that what happened - you slipped and fell in there?"

Tugger looked at Mistoffelees as though he was the stupidest cat he had ever seen. "Yeah, we slipped and fell." He said with the most sarcastic tone he could muster. "Either that, or Macavity threw her in there, then hit me with a ball of freaking fire so big it burned off half my mane and gave me this agonising pain in my chest that hurts whenever I breathe. One or the other."

"I had no idea." Mistoffelees said quickly, referring to both the story and the pain. "If it hurts that badly, the human vet is always an option-"

Tugger cut him off. "Not only is that never going to happen, you asked me two questions. So I get to ask you two as well." He changed positions again, pulling up another pillow to rest against the back of his head. Clearly he was in some discomfort. "One – are you in love with Tantomile? Two – are you going to be a pussy about it and just pine after her forever, or are you going to actually do something about it?"

Mistoffelees did not like these questions. Why did he agree to this game? This was not fun. This was not something he enjoyed. Today was quickly getting to be an exercise in seeing how often he could cry in one day. He bit his lip again to fight off any thought of tears, though the answer that eventually came out of his mouth was a surprise even to himself. "Yes." He said sharply, then said nothing else.

It took Tugger to break the silence, which gave him a pretty conclusive answer to his second question as well. "Oh." He said without anything else, no joke or glimmer of humour. That was a sad thing that he had just heard, and on today of all days. Why could there not have been a fun story of trysts in the Junkyard, or stolen kisses at midnight? Why would it have to be as blunt and blatant as unrequited love? That was just sad.

"This was a stupid game." Mistoffelees said as he pressed his paws to his face. He could not believe that he was about to cry again, yet that disbelief did nothing to stop the first few tears from trickling down his cheeks.

Tugger wanted to wrap his arm around Mistoffelees and give him a hug, but he was not able to. His movement had become slightly limited, it hurt to have anything touching his chest in any capacity. The only thing he could offer was empathy through his own pain, something he offered the only way that he knew how. "She's still alive, dude. Remember that? It's pretty weird that of the two of us, you're the one crying."

Mistoffelees could not help but laugh a little at the absurdity of it all. "I know. I'm pathetic, right?" He said with a half-smile, rubbing the tears away from his eyes. "Today has been so long and all this stuff keeps on happening..." He trailed off a little, looking at Tugger's comparatively unblemished face. "I just thought for sure that when she woke up she'd be so happy to see me, but she didn't care. The only cat she had any interest in was Pouncival. He's such a lucky fu-"

"You had one job." Bombalurina interrupted the pair as she entered the room through the swung-open door. She approached Tugger and poked him in the shoulder. "I will wait for your scars to heal and then I'll kick your tail off." Mistoffelees looked taken aback, wasn't he supposed to be keeping Tugger in good spirits, not the other way around? Apparently not. Tugger tried to protest, but Bombalurina pointed the finger of blame squarely at him. "Apologise to the kitten for making him upset."

Mistoffelees tried to – again – complain that he was no longer a kitten, but found himself unable to as Tugger mumbled a quiet 'sorry' under his breath. That was enough for Bombalurina, who glanced at Mistoffelees. "Now both of you are going to stop being sad and start being happy. We're all alive and doing okay, so let's just celebrate that for a little while and stop talking about everything depressing you can think of."

And so they did. Bombalurina provided an emotional catalyst to drag both toms out of their respective sad thoughts and back to a much nicer, soothing topic. Nonetheless, Mistoffelees could not help but lend a thought to how Tantomile was doing, how everything was going over there.

Things were going, as it turned out, rather well.

Jellylorum had finished examining both Tantomile and Coricopat for further injuries, and could happily report that neither were severely injured. There were a few minor things – she suspected both had minor bruises to their ribs as well as their jaws from the fight, but there was nothing life-threatening. All internal organs were present and seemingly healthy, which provided a moment of relief for everyone.

Even Pouncival appeared to be in better spirits, which was a real surprise considering the trauma that he had been through on that day. By now it was near night-time, outside was dark (though the room containing the twins had been dimly-lit all day after the window was blocked-off) and things appeared to be winding down a little. This was good news.

Yet the most newsworthy moment of that evening was still to come. With Jellylorum out of the room, now checking on the cats downstairs, Coricopat, Tantomile and Pouncival were sat together in their solitary room. They were sat in a small circle, holding paws as they shared a moment of silence to allow the twins to reflect on their emotions. In the past, for Pouncival, all this would typically do was make him feel out of place. But today he was engaging with the behaviour and performing admirably at this type of meditation.

But the silence can have strange effects. Pouncival had something to say, something he had been thinking about since he woke. In the silence, the idea was allowed to form and bulge inside his head, getting all the more bigger until he just had to say it out loud. In terms of how he felt, the best word might have been 'nostalgic'. His mind was overflowing with memories of the time he asked Tantomile to be his girlfriend, when they were sat together in her den so many years ago. Memories of that first date, when he said 'I love you', of when she said it back. Memories of when she asked him to be her mate and he felt happier than he had ever felt in his entire life.

Memories so strong and incredible that his heart pounded just to think of them, as well as what to say now. Tantomile and Coricopat both opened their eyes to look at Pouncival, whose heart was hammering so loudly in his chest that they could both hear. They had no idea what this meant, only that he would tell them if it was important. It was just that they truly did not know how important this moment was going to be in both of their lives.

"I'm so sorry." Pouncival said as he looked directly at Tantomile. A few moments fluttered by in complete silence before he spoke again. "I'm, um, I'm sorry for being so self-centred for forever. I get bad thoughts sometimes, but I need to learn to deal with them better..." Tantomile tried to interject, but he cut her off. "Let me finish." He said simply, taking a few breaths.

Pouncival felt the twins squeezing his paws and took it as encouragement. "If anyone is going to understand this..." He started, drawing a long breath before continuing. "I saw Tumble today. I know that's crazy and I know that's impossible but I swear I saw him. It was only just... kinda... a little bit I mean it happened I know I saw him and I know it happened so don't think I'm broken I swear it happened I-" He stopped suddenly and drew another breath.

Again the twins tried to interject, to tell him that Tumble was alive, but again Pouncival would not allow it. "Macavity picked me up in his teeth and I thought I was going to die but I saw Tumble and I knew everything was going to be okay." The fact was, Pouncival had no idea that Macavity had returned Tumblebrutus and he was now assuming that he had had some kind of spiritual vision. What was more incredible was the way he was responding to it.

"What I realised was that I have to try so much harder." Pouncival said as he released Coricopat's paw and moved himself a little closer to Tantomile, to be directly opposite her. He took both of her paws in his and looked her directly in the eyes. "Your eyes are so pretty." He said quietly, his heart pounding even harder than before. Hers quickly joined too, as a wave of emotion flowed through her. "I almost died today. It sucked."

Tantomile nodded. She was not going to try to interrupt him again, not when he was saying all of these things. The idea that he was coming to terms with his terrible depression filled her with hope. He had never said anything like this before, he had not even complimented her in years – at least, not this way, not the way he clearly intended it now. He was trying to be romantic. He was showing her that their relationship was alive. It made her heart flutter.

Pouncival glanced briefly at Coricopat. "But you saved me." He reiterated. "You're my hero forever." Coricopat felt shockingly good to hear those words, especially after he tried so hard to repel that tag earlier on. Seeing Pouncival like this was a reward in and of itself, and he was ecstatic to hear the praise. Pouncival turned back to Tantomile to continue. "I tried to escape but I couldn't, I scratched until my claws got dull and I bruised my arms and paws all over..."

Pouncival nodded his head as he refused to break eye-contact. "And all I could think was... was... if I die... it's been too long since I held your paws, not you holding mine. It's been too long since I hugged you, not you hugging me. And it's been too long since I looked you in the eyes like this and said.. said..." His eyes were welling up.

"Tants... I love you."

Tantomile burst into tears as Pouncival squeezed her paws. She still managed to keep silent and let him continue, though her tears of happiness managed to force a few audible sobs from her lips. If Mistoffelees was vying for the title of most tears in one day, she would certainly be a contender. This moment was something that she had dreamed of for almost two years, it was something that kept her awake at night, that clouded her mind on an almost daily basis. And it was as blissful as she had imagined it.

"I'm so sorry I don't tell you it enough, I'm so sorry I don't try hard enough." Pouncival shifted slightly as a few teardrops began to roll down his cheeks as well. "But from now on I promise I'm going to try so hard every single day, because I get it now. Tumble came to me, I saw him because I needed reminding that no matter what happens he's always with me. And that thought is going to get me through..." He trailed off slightly, losing his way.

A moment passed as he worked out what he was trying to say. The original thought that had got him to this point, that memory of when she agreed to be his girlfriend, that was what was focussed in his mind. And he was going to tell her exactly what he was feeling. "I can get through this because it's not just me. In my head I keep being on my own, but I'm sure now I can fix those thoughts and keep thinking about something else, I can keep thinking about you."

Pouncival released Tantomile's paws and lifted his to her face, brushing against her cheeks. "So long as I have you to look at, it'll keep those thoughts away. Because you're so pretty... pretty because..." He trailed off again. Tantomile's heart was thumping as she was praying for him to say what she hoped so badly, that she unknowingly mouthed the next few words along with him.

"You're pretty because when I look at you... it's like looking at happiness."

Tantomile threw herself forwards, wrapped her arms around Pouncival's neck and pressed her lips against his in a desperate kiss. A kiss that fell into something far more tender and loving as she felt his paws caress her cheeks. She relaxed in his arms, finally feeling what she had been praying for for so long.

She was so happy.


	7. The End of the Nightmares

_**Warning: **__The following chapter is one of the primary reasons that this story is rated 'T'. It contains occasional coarse language and themes that may be unsuitable for a younger reader. Enjoy!_

* * *

"I'm not crying."

Some cats like to greet the morning with a yawn or a stretch. Some might hug the cat they had fallen asleep against. Others might even like to start the day by pulling their blankets over their eyes.

Not Pouncival.

For on this day, something so utterly unusual happened that he felt it immediately important to announce to those around him – who were, in this case, Tantomile and Coricopat.

"I'm not crying!" Pouncival reiterated, sitting bolt upright as he pressed his paws to his face. He rubbed under his eyes, finding them completely dry. He felt a mixture of happiness and shock as he looked across to Tantomile, who had been awake for a little while now, and grabbed her paws. "Look! No nightmares! I'm literally not crying!" He exclaimed, a measure of shock very evident in his voice as he pressed her paws up against his face to feel the lack of dampness. Tantomile, though still tired, seemed remarkably relaxed considering the news.

"You look incredible." The queen said with a hushed tone as she sidled closer to Pouncival and smiled at him. "So incredible. Every time I looked at you during the night, you seemed so happy." She heaved a small, happy sigh and moved to hold his paws against her lap.

"I didn't have a nightmare." Pouncival squeezed her paws – they were so soft. He considered asking if that was because she used some kind of magic to make them softer, but then felt embarrassed and decided to keep talking about his dreams. "That was the first time I think I went to sleep happy in forever and the first time I haven't had a bad dream since... well... y'know..."

Tantomile immediately pushed herself much closer and embraced Pouncival in a small hug. He was so warm. "It's okay." She did not need him to tell her that he had been having nightmares ever since Macavity killed his parents. That much had become painfully obvious over the past two years. Two years of screams in the middle of the night, of pained tears every morning. She paused and drew a deep breath, taking in his scent. He was intoxicating.

"Perhaps you both could do with a moment alone." Coricopat spoke as he took to his feet. Both cats looked over to him, but he seemed remarkably peaceful as he smiled. Certainly compared to how he had been feeling only twenty-four hours earlier, when he claimed he would never sleep again. Leaving them alone felt awful to him, but he was mindful that it might do his sister some good to have a chance to talk about her relationship. Tantomile nodded almost immediately, which confirmed his suspicions.

Taking that as his signal, Coricopat gave both cats a kiss on the top of the head before rearranging the blankets on the floor. Tantomile needed to take the opportunity to talk to Pouncival while he was feeling this upbeat, and even if she was unable to link to his mind because of the pink collar, Coricopat knew how important this was to her. "If you need me, I'll be outside, okay?" Coricopat said as Tantomile nodded again. And with that, he left the room.

After a few moments, Tantomile and Pouncival broke their hug, moving back slightly to stare at each other as they sat in such close proximity. After a while, Pouncival began to laugh. Tantomile cocked her head curiously, certainly not expecting the next words that came out of his mouth. "This reminds me of when I told you I was sort of maybe in love with you a bit."

Tantomile could not help but laugh as well. "You mean, the silence?" She took his paws in hers and gave them a little squeeze. "We used to do a lot of that. Too much thinking and not enough talking. If you want, we could maybe do a bit more talking right now. Only if you want though." She did not want to push him. It was very typical of their recent conversations that she would give him the opportunity to not commit.

"You mean, talk about the fact that we're mates but I've been awful for forever?" Pouncival glanced to the side. Tantomile tried to interject, but he would not let her cut him off. "I told you, I'm done with being rubbish. New me now. New me, more smiles, less sad-times. Lots of happy-times forever now and you're just going to have to put up with the fact that every now and again I'm totally going to tickle you!" He was true to his word. Within a moment he had lived up to his name, pouncing forward and tickling Tantomile's sides, just above her hips.

He had not forgotten where she was most ticklish. The raucous laughter that erupted from Tantomile's mouth was only fettered when she begged him to stop, her paws grasping her bandaged gut. The injuries from yesterday would take a long time to heal, she would not be ready for a tickle-fight for a long time yet. When Pouncival saw her grimace in pain, he let up immediately, but in this position... other ideas began to form.

Tantomile was lying on her back, with Pouncival straddling her waist. While his earlier tickles were purely platonic, in this position there was something decidedly more intimate. For a moment, neither of them did anything. The silence that fell upon them set the mood perfectly, their heavy breathing sounding melodic in the quietness. Pouncival first took the initiative by running his paws up her sides, past her shoulders and then against her cheeks. His paws dropped to rest either side of her to provide support as he leant forwards, on all-fours above her and in a very compromising position.

"If you kiss me right now, I will be really, really happy." Tantomile was absolutely breathless as she spoke, the pain of her injuries simply melted away as she looked into Pouncival's eyes. He was such a mystery to her, it was so incredible that he could just flip a switch and change. The tom straddling her was nothing like the one she had been caring for a few days earlier. This cat was Pouncival, her Pouncival. The one she fell in love with all those years ago. And yet she did not get her wish fulfilled. Instead, after a few moments of consideration, Pouncival shifted and sat to her side, fidgeting slightly.

"I know that this is going to sound like the stupidest thing you've ever heard so please don't think I'm stupid because actually I'm quite smart my brother had me tested." He was speaking extremely quickly, his words bunching together. Though this would seem like strange behaviour coming from any other cat, for Pouncival to speak like this it was actually quite normal – if anything, hearing him speak like this gave Tantomile hope that he could recover the things that gave him identity, that he could once again be his old self. She sat upright and placed her arm around him, allowing the tom to speak.

"We kept waiting until the Jellicle Ball and now I'm getting worried because we're mates and we've never... mated." Tantomile immediately knew what he was talking about. It was something that she had been thinking about for a while too – the simple fact was that despite being officially mated together, they had never engaged in the full meaning of that term. She tried to interrupt him, but once again he was speaking quickly.

"We've been together for five years, I know I maybe don't remember all of them but I remember lots and when we were just getting together I was scared. So we were all like, let's wait for the Jellicle Ball! But then things didn't seem right that one year, so we waited even longer. And then after a little while we were both finally ready and everything was going great until..." He trailed off and looked down at the ground.

Tantomile squeezed Pouncival's paws and leaned in to nuzzle the top of his head. "It's not your fault that Macavity attacked the night before the ball." They had been in the third year of their relationship the night that Macavity murdered Pouncival's family. Literally a day away from finally consummating their relationship, only for everything to turn so disastrously wrong.

But Pouncival was not ready to give up on what he was trying to say. "Maybe a couple years passed me by, but I promise I've changed. No more feeling sorry for myself. I mean, I didn't even have a nightmare last night. For the first time in forever I don't feel exhausted, the voices in my head are so, so calm. Like, you don't understand, they're so quiet I can hardly hear them." Pouncival took a few breaths and steadied himself, glancing up to look into Tantomile's eyes. "I guess what I'm saying is, you asked me to be your mate years ago and I said yes. We never had that official thing at a Jellicle Ball but I still really want to and I was hoping that maybe now, y'know..."

Tantomile grabbed Pouncival's shoulders suddenly. She was staring into his eyes with a real hope written across her face. "Please say what I hope you are going to say." She spoke quickly with a breathless tone, her breathing completely erratic as her heart pounded. "Just... just please say it."

Pouncival was suddenly caught up in that moment as well. "At the next Jellicle Ball, will you please I mean, would you please, uhm..." He trailed off, staring into her eyes. Tantomile looked so absolutely desperate, she was hanging onto his every syllable. It took Pouncival a little while to build the confidence to speak, though as every second passed their pounding hearts only made the pressure even greater. "At the next Jellicle Ball... I mean, after the next Ball, would you and me maybe try and do something about making the word 'mate' more... official?"

Tantomile's heart skipped a beat. He had put it so eloquently, so wonderfully, that they should be made official. She nodded her head with a beaming smile, a deep red blush across her face. Her paws slid to Pouncival's cheeks. She felt his wrap around her waist, avoiding the injuries. "After the Ball, in our den, you and me together and we don't have to wait anymore to... mate." She glanced to the side at the absolute ridiculousness of what she had just said.

Pouncival did not find it ridiculous at all. In fact, his response to Tantomile's words could be easily gauged as he leant in close, stopping just short of laying a kiss on her lips. She prayed that he would, but he still had more to say. "I want my first time to be with you because I love you so much." He whispered, his breathing quite clearly getting heavier.

Tantomile was closing her eyes as she leaned in closer toward him, tilting her head to the side and resting her head against his – their lips mere millimetres apart. "If we had had our first time already, it wouldn't be anywhere near as special. Right now I love you more than I ever though possible to love someone." She spoke quietly, her eyes now completely shut, teasingly urging Pouncival to kiss her. "I'm 35 and you're only 24. We have our entire lives to make love."

Pouncival almost broke the moment to make a joke, but a thought flew into his head and he realised that would be the wrong thing to do. Why? Because that would not be what Joseph Pouncival Cool would do. He reasoned that only an idiot would make a joke at a time like this, and Joseph Pouncival Cool was no idiot. But a counter-thought flew into his head as well – it was she who kissed him the day before. In fact, the more he thought about it, the more he realised that he hadn't been the one to initiate a kiss in a very, very long time.

Pouncival's paws jumped up to hold Tantomile's cheeks and he drew back slightly. When she opened her eyes, perhaps slightly dejected, she would be greeted by a wide smile on his face. "I absolutely love you more than anything ever and I am so incredibly sorry I haven't done this in so long because you deserve so much better." And with that, he pulled her into a long, passionate kiss.

It took Tantomile quite some time to remember where she was.

The feeling of butterflies could not compare to the sheer pleasure that flowed down her spine as he kissed her, which only served to make her frustrated when the kiss was brought to an end.

Pouncival pulled away to break the kiss, his face a mixture of nerves and happiness as he looked positively sheepish. "Right now I feel so... good." He glanced to the side and shook his head slightly, he was have trouble forming complete sentences. Worried that she may attribute that to his mental problems, he quickly added: "Because I'm touching you. I mean, no, because looking at you is so lovely because your face looks so pretty and your paws are so soft oh look at that I'm blushing." He looked away.

Tantomile, as before, was completely ecstatic that he was stringing words together like he used to. It was like listening to the Pouncival she met five years ago, rather than the cat she had been nursing for the past two – the transformation was truly unbelievable. "You're so beautiful, Pounce." She said with a hushed voice, taking his paws into hers and giving them a soft squeeze. "You really are the most wondrous cat I have ever laid eyes on."

Pouncival turned back to face Tantomile, the light-brown fur on his face now decidedly a shade of pink. Everything about him was different today, from his demeanour to the way he was speaking. It seemed incredible that only two days ago he was having a kind of mental breakdown, self-destructively ripping apart the physical items that remind him of his family, yet now he was so utterly normal.

And yet it was the pure normality that was beginning to grind in the back of Tantomile's mind. She was so incredibly excited to see him acting 'normal' (for him, at least) that part of her didn't care about the method. The fact was that he was happy. But then, what if he stopped being happy tomorrow, in a week or a month? What if a few days down the line he suddenly soared back into depression? She had to know what was going on, it could not be as simple as him merely 'deciding' to no longer be upset.

That is not how mental disorders work.

Tantomile was loathe to bring this moment to an end, but Pouncival was in the mood to talk. She had to take advantage of this, it was the first chance she had been handed in years to actually ask him about his mind. Still, the way she felt right now, she just wanted to pin him to the ground and... no. Focus. "Pounce, if you are still okay to talk, I was kind of hoping you might tell me about something."

Pouncival was taken aback. He had wanted to take advantage of the moment of happiness by filling it with kisses and physical contact, not just conversation. But such was his eagerness to please Tantomile that she could have asked him to do anything in that moment and he would have agreed. The tom softly nodded his head, sitting back to be a bit more comfortable.

Tantomile shifted to move closer to him, to keep their paws locked together. "It's about what you said – the voices in your head are calm?" Those kind of words terrified her. Of course she knew that Pouncival had been hearing voices for some time, but the extent of it had always been questionable. Whenever she had looked into his mind over the past few years, she had been able to hear some mild internal noises, no doubt a burden to live with but certainly not unbearable. "When were they last bad?"

Pouncival thought for a moment before answering. "Yesterday. When I was with Cori all day before everything almost stopped." He looked to the side and thought about his words for a moment, wondering if it made any sense. "They stopped when Macavity tried to kill me." Those words left nothing to the imagination.

Immediately, Tantomile wished that she had not said anything. She did not like this at all, the thought of losing Pouncival again came to consume her thoughts. Which was a real shame, because if she had just stopped for a second to think about things logically, she may have realised something quite wonderful indeed.

But alas, she did not. Instead she simply squeezed Pouncival's paws again and tried to keep herself calm. "He didn't, though." She seemed far more upset by the mention of Macavity than Pouncival was; those words may well have been more for her own benefit rather than his. "How do you mean, 'stopped'?"

Pouncival looked down at their paws and pulled away from her hold. Instead of her holding him, he took her paws into his own and held them both very tightly indeed. "You don't have to be scared, Tants." He said quietly, looking up at her again. "Right now, for the first time in forever my head is almost completely calm. I swear I can almost hear silence it's so crazy, there's just no reason for you to be scared for me."

What incredible control he had over her. Even something so simple as taking her paws into his made Tantomile feel remarkable. And why not? That feeling of being cared for, of being loved, was one that any cat adored. Tantomile found herself warming into Pouncival's touch. "You keep doing things to surprise me." Her voice had completely warmed, with a smirk gathering on her cheek as she added: "Please keep doing them."

"You mean, things like this?" Pouncival asked before yanking Tantomile closer by her paws. He jerked forward as well, stopping just in front of her. They were suddenly nose-to-nose, and as another overwhelming feeling of glee washed over Pouncival he tilted his head to place a kiss on Tantomile's cheek. He kissed her again, planting his lips against her before dropping to then nuzzle just underneath her chin.

Tantomile leant her head back naturally, all thoughts of asking questions about Pouncival's mind had been completely forgotten. To be fair to her, after spending two years without any kind of affection like this, each of his touches felt a combination of new, yet familiar. He remembered exactly where she was most sensitive, yet it had been so long that those same touches felt just as breathtaking as the first time he had touched her many years ago.

But like all good things, it came to an end all too soon. In this case it stopped when Pouncival moved to lightly bite the side of Tantomile's neck, but instead inadvertently got a mouthful of her new bright pink collar. He released the collar from his mouth and leaned back slightly, lifting his paw to touch it again. "Okay, I have to ask-"

"The collar." Tantomile pulled herself away from Pouncival's paw, not wanting his touch to make the collar tighten again. She had been hoping that he heard her yesterday, but obviously not. Now she would have to explain it to him.

"Macavity made me wear it." Tantomile stated simply. "I had to, please don't ask me why. But I had to and it won't ever come off." Pouncival opened his mouth to interrupt, but Tantomile anticipated his thoughts. "No, you can't take it off with magic. That's because it... it stops magic. All magic." The truth was hard.

Pouncival was in disbelief. He tried to say something, but the words would not come out. Silence fell upon them as he began to comprehend the extent of what she was saying. The collar blocked magic, it could not be removed. So many times had she enthused to him about her abilities when they first got together, that he knew just how important magic was to her identity. He did not know what to say, he did not know what combination of words could possibly express how devastating this must have been.

Until she cried.

Tantomile had not had a chance to really think about the extent of what the collar meant until now. She had been angry about it, panicked about it, even resigned to it. But now the opportunity came to reflect on it, and the thoughts were not good. She loved her magic, it was an intrinsic part of the way she navigated her day. Even when talking to another cat, she would allow herself to see into their thoughts and better understand their reasoning. Now, all of that was going to go away, she would never be able to do it again and tears began to drip down her cheeks as her face screwed into a sob.

Fortunately for Tantomile, the sight of her crying was enough to kick-start something instinctive in Pouncival. The tom reached forward and wrapped his arms tightly around her. She melted into his arms, falling against him to rest her head against his shoulder as she cried. Now he knew exactly what he had to say. "You did this for me." He stated simply. Tantomile did not even need to say it, the answer was obvious to him.

"He was going to kill you, Pounce. It was the only thing I could do." Tantomile did not want to look at him, she felt so utterly embarrassed and ashamed by the bright pink, studded collar around her neck. Her arms naturally tightened around him as she clung to his thin body, her tears only serving to dampen his neck as she cried.

"Thank you." Pouncival said quietly, giving her a small squeeze. "Thank you Tants I... oh, I couldn't even ever imagine what a world would be like without you, you've done so much for me over and over, I'm going to repay you a billion times over I promise I'll repay you in hugs and kisses and I don't know massages or something I just love you so much."

"You know what the worst part is?" Tantomile hardly responded to his words. Clearly she was having difficulty coping with emotional trauma of having her magic taken away from her. "He lied. He didn't do a single damned thing to help you, he just laughed. He laughed and tried to take you away from me."

"But he didn't." Pouncival interjected. He relaxed his hold on Tantomile and gripped her shoulders, yanking her back slightly so that he could look into her eyes. "Tants. Listen to me now. You're totally fine. I'm totally fine. Look at me, just really look at me and you'll see that I'm totally completely fine and you don't need to be so sad."

So she did. Tantomile opened her eyes to look at Pouncival, her vision blurry through the tears. It was only when looking at him like this, without the romanticism of amorous kisses, that she began to take in the sight before her. "Oh, Pounce... how can you keep telling me that you're fine when you look so hurt?"

There were a few things that Tantomile had not been thinking about. She had been so overcome by his new-found mental state that his physical state had not even occurred to her. But looking at him again, truly genuinely looking at him, she was beginning to see things that had passed her by. Over the past couple of years, Pouncival's mental sickness had overshadowed any physical issues. Now that he seemed so completely fine, those physical problems were beginning to stick out.

"Your face, Pounce." Tantomile said quietly, lifting her paws to touch his cheeks. Her paw brushed against scar tissue under the brown patch over his eye, a long direct slice from where he had cut himself a few months before. Her other paw found a similar mark just under his chin, a terribly long set of claw marks only thinly covered by fur. He had cut himself there almost a year ago and ripped out a chunk of fur which was only just beginning to grow back. Pouncival did not recoil from her touches, but it was her next set of words that made him back away from her touch: "You used to have whiskers."

Pouncival suddenly gripped her wrists and yanked them away from his face. His eyes were beginning to well up, perhaps because of the shame that he felt for doing this to himself. "I'm sorry." He said quietly, shaking his head. "But this isn't me anymore. The voices made me do it, I told you that. The voices made me... they... look, I can't hear them anymore! I told you already. They can't make me do things anymore because now they're just as quiet as when I was a kitten and for the first time since I was little I can think clearly."

Tantomile looked at her wrists, almost shackled in his grasp. This was getting to be too much. "I'm scared of cages." The queen uttered as she pulled her paws away from Pouncival. She looked at him sadly, giving her head a little shake. "I'm scared of being locked up and that's what this collar is. It's like a cage permanently locked around my neck and it's making me feel like I want to vomit."

Pouncival reached forward to touch the collar, to see if there was anything he could do to remove it, but Tantomile pulled away from his touch. "It tightens. Whenever someone tries to remove it, it tightens. So please don't ever try to remove it, because you might just accidentally hurt me." She looked to the side to avoid his gaze, her eyes marred with tear-drops. She wished they could just go back to kissing and cuddling.

"I know I look like someone who's been cutting himself, but I promise I'm not that anymore." Pouncival said quietly as he moved a little closer to Tantomile, placing his paw gently on her side. "I'm sorry I don't look normal." He sighed and lifted his free paw to tap against his cheek, against where his whiskers used to be. "I don't even remember doing this to myself. It must have been horrible for you."

Tantomile closed her eyes tightly and shook her head, wishing this moment would just come to an end. She did not want to talk about this anymore, she did not want to have to relive those terrible memories. But then, it looked as though she had no choice. "Pounce, it was single-handedly the worst night of my life." She looked up at him sadly, opening her eyes to see that he was visibly upset. "It was your birthday, Pounce. You seemed so happy for almost the entire day..." She trailed off.

Pouncival immediately pulled her into another hug and placed a small kiss on her cheek. "I'm sorry for even bringing it up." He said quietly as they hugged. "I didn't mean to make you relive something horrible, I just... I don't remember a lot of things. That's all. There's lots of gaps in the last few years and it's hard trying to piece things together. I was... I was hoping that Macavity did this to me." He pulled back to look her in the eyes. "That I didn't do this to myself... but I guess I did."

Tantomile sighed. "You're still beautiful." She said quietly, trying to force half a smile. But that forced expression quickly fell as she grimaced and shook her head. "But Pounce, this is important. This is really, really important. Because that day, it was maybe four or five months after your parents died. And you managed to trick me, Cori, everyone into thinking that you were completely fine. So much so that when you asked to be alone for a little while to think about your family, it didn't even phase me... and then, after an hour or so, you started screaming."

Pouncival visibly shuddered. His gag reflex kicked in as he convulsed, feeling as though he would vomit. "Don't tell me anymore." He said quietly, his paw pressed tightly against his own chest to force himself to feel less nauseous. "I don't remember what happened but it makes me feel sick hearing about it and I'm sure I did something just absolutely terrible so please don't say aloud what I did because all I remember is it was the worst thing I've ever done in my life and I'm so sorry that I did that to you because you're beautiful and deserve so much better than me it's not even funny." He drew in a deep breath and exhaled sharply.

Tantomile nodded gently, going along with his wishes. The night Tantomile had been talking about was the first time that Pouncival tried to kill himself. He had successfully fooled everyone around him into thinking that he was completely fine, then even convinced Tantomile to give him some time alone. The moment he had that time alone, he slit his wrists open by slashing rapidly just under his paws. But that set off a spiral of depression that could not be sated by simply attempting to end his own life. With blood staining his fur an awful deep red, the voices in his head drove him to a state of near-insanity and he began to harm himself with a sense of real malice. In amongst moments of ripping out fur and punching himself, he had pulled out every whisker from his face. It was after he had completed this terrible deed, all committed whilst staring intently at his worsening reflection in a mirror, that sane thoughts began to return and he realised the horrors of what he had done. It was then that he screamed.

Tantomile remembered that night like it was yesterday. Amongst all of the things that one never wishes to hear, the sound of a loved one screaming is surely one of the most tragic. It was not just a scream of anger or pain, it was a harrowing sound, something that gave her nightmares for a long time. She vividly remembered walking up those stairs, calling out his name to no answer, before opening the door and seeing that terrible sight. She would never be able to wipe that image out of her head, the sight of so much blood and suffering. Naturally she assumed that he had been attacked, that this was the work of Macavity, but Pouncival then and there admitted he had done it to himself. It was an admission of self-harm and a cry for help that she would never forget. And it was the reason that her next words were so important.

"You don't get it, you don't understand, how can I trust you?" Tantomile broke the hug just as Pouncival had done before in order to look the tom directly in his eyes. "How do I know you're really better, that the voices are gone for good if I can't look into your head to make sure you're telling the truth? You fooled me before for Christ's sake, how can I trust that you're really better right now without my magic? How can I trust anyone without my magic? How can I even cope or function or do anything without my magic Pouncival tell me how do I fucking cope with life?"

Tantomile had not expected those last few words to leave her mouth. The simple fact was that she knew that she could trust Pouncival right now, he was behaving completely differently to before. It was not just his body language or his actions, but the distinctive words coming out of his mouth. In truth, there was little doubt in her mind that Pouncival was substantially better – as she had already noted, he was speaking and behaving like the cat she fell in love with five years earlier.

"You called me Pouncival." The tom replied calmly, a look of terrible hurt etched across his face, yet his dejection was marred by a sense of guilt. Those words that she had spoken – they were of real panic. Of fear and worry. This was not the time for him to be self-loathing or to feel sorry for himself. Right now, she needed him. If there was ever any evidence that Pouncival was truly better, it was the fact that he was able to look past any pain to try and care for Tantomile.

And it did not go unnoticed.

Because he remembered some words that had stuck with him for years, something that Tantomile had said to him after he had been particularly nasty to her. Through that feeling of shame and fear, the words came flickering into the forefront of his mind and he realised just how relevant they were right now. "If you need to yell at me to get better, baby, you can." Pouncival said quietly, not breaking that gaze for one second. "I want you to know that. You can scream at me all you like, if it will make you feel better."

Just like that, all the pain and anger melted away. Tantomile stared at Pouncival in complete shock as everything important to her began to re-organise in her mind. She realised that it was the magic that was upsetting her, that perhaps she had not had the chance to be saddened by her loss of power. Most importantly of all, she realised that Pouncival was capable of sympathy and empathy, that he was capable of wanting to care for her. It was not just empty words, it was empirical fact.

Suddenly she felt extraordinarily ashamed of even being upset in the first place. Her needs completely paled away to the transformation that was occurring in front of her. Yes, Pouncival still bore the physical fruits of his depression. Those scars on his face would probably never go away entirely, he would never have a full set of whiskers and his mangled left ear would not get better. Yet those physical blemishes were just that – blemishes. They had no bearing on his mental state, they had no bearing on his personality. The cat that she fell in love with was still there and for the first time in a long time she had the chance to be with him.

Which is probably why Tantomile quietly started laughing. "You make it really hard for me to be upset, you know that?" There would be time to commiserate about the collar later, just as there would be time to pray for some kind of solution. Nothing would be able to take her mind away from the fact that she now truly believed Pouncival to be better. He would still need time and care and affection to get back to being the tom he once was, but for now-

She completely lost her train of thought when Pouncival pressed his lips against hers once more in a loving kiss.

"You asked for more surprises." Pouncival said with a weary smile as he broke the kiss and traced his paws around her body, holding her tightly and warmly with a tender touch. Tantomile repositioned herself, arching her back slightly into his touch. His paws dropped down and ran down her sides, which only made her flinch when he inadvertently nudged one of her wounds and swiftly brought the moment to an end.

"Sorry." They both said in unison, followed by a look of surprise. Pouncival glanced down again, looking at the bandages. "You keep asking me questions about my head, but that doesn't hurt anymore. Maybe I've got a few bruises and cuts, I'm missing fur in a couple places and I don't have all the whiskers I used to, but you must hurt so bad right now." He shook his head slightly. "I'm sorry for touching you too much."

Tantomile shook her head vigorously, grabbed Pouncival's paws and placed them firmly on her hips. "You never, ever, ever apologise for touching me. You get to touch me as much as you like forever, got it?" She was forcing a smile again. This whole conversation had been like a rollercoaster of emotion for her – she was being careful to remember that no matter what happened, Pouncival was happy right now. She had to try and keep calm, keep him happy. Above everything else, that was the most important thing right now.

Pouncival was following a similar train of thought about Tantomile. From his perspective, she was the one that needed to be looked after. She had clearly been attacked so viciously – he could recall seeing her the day before after he woke up, the tears in her eyes, the terrible burn wounds. He knew that those bandages were hiding some nasty injuries that would leave permanent scars. He had to keep happy for her, he had to try and keep her spirits high as well. That was the most important thing to him.

He glanced down to look at his paws. There were no bandages where his paws rested against her hips, though he could hardly move them – her gut and thighs were all covered up. He felt unsure and so simply gave her hips a small squeeze. "I love you." Pouncival said suddenly, almost catching himself off-guard. "Uhm... you're really pretty. I don't understand how I managed to keep my paws off you for so long."

Tantomile did understand, of course, but she appreciated the effort that Pouncival was making. For her part, she ran her paws along his sides and allowed them to rest on his hips as well, to mirror his touch. "I spent around two years praying that you would kiss me out of nowhere. And now you've done that twice in one day. You're starting to make me wonder what you're going to do next."

Once again, Tantomile's words brought Pouncival to a standstill. He did not know how to respond to that, other than simply turning the question on its head. They were already so close to one another, Pouncival began to realise that with the way they were sitting and holding each other, Tantomile was practically straddling him. "Is there, I mean, was there anything else you kind of... were praying for?" Words had gotten hard again.

Tantomile was taken aback. That had been a genuine question, but she could not press this. If it was something he genuinely wanted, it would have to be him to broach the subject. "Can you tell me what you mean?" She asked quietly, as the silence began to become slightly overbearing. She could hear his heart pounding again, which only made her aware of her own heartbeat. When he did not respond, she simply drew a deep breath. She whispered: "Whatever you say right now, it's okay. You can say anything to me Pounce... I promise whatever you are thinking, it's okay."

"I feel better now than I have done in a long, long time." Pouncival said simply, unable to break his gaze into Tantomile's eyes. "I don't, I mean, I want..." He released her hips, moving his hands slowly up her back. "I need to take advantage of this feeling. In case the pain is going to come back. Because if it does, I need... Tants. You. I mean, I need you. I want you." He moved his paws briskly to his own hips, grabbing her paws and lifting them up to press against his own chest. "Feel my heart hammering for you because that's how I feel right now. I can't do words very well when you're making my heart go like this, so just tell me please, is there anything else that you've been praying I would do to you... or anything you've been wishing you could just do to me?"

Tantomile could feel her lip start to tremble as she did not dare break their gaze. Overcome with a mixture of fear and amorous excitement, she bit her lip to stop it from quaking and quietly replied. "I didn't think this would ever happen to me." She could not stop looking at his beautiful mahogany eyes. Suddenly those blemishes did not seem all so important. "I always thought I was going to die without getting to touch someone like this." Had she just inadvertently admitted that she was also a virgin? No matter. She was far too caught up in the moment to realise, as was he.

Her paws grasped softly at the fur on his chest, releasing to tenderly drag fingertips gently and lovingly down to his sides. Urged on by a tiny gasping sound that protruded from Pouncival's mouth, Tantomile brought her fingertips to rest softly just above his hips. "Whatever I say to answer your question," she said slowly and calmly, trying her very best to remain comprehensible when all she wanted to do was make funny little sounds and lay a hundred kisses on his lips. "You don't have to say 'yes'. You can say 'no'. It doesn't have to happen now, it isn't something we even have to do, it's just something that I think about sometimes. That's all."

Pouncival was absolutely breathless. His paws had returned to her back once again, though really all he was doing now was arching slightly into each of her touches. "I understand." He said quickly, with a hushed voice matching her tone. "I, um... I didn't think I'd ever be this lucky. I didn't think I'd ever be with someone as beautiful and wonderful and pretty and sexy and awesome as you because, ah..." He trailed off as Tantomile pinched his hip playfully.

"You're the unbelievably attractive one out of the two of us, Pounce. That's, that's why. I mean, that's why I'm going to say what I'm going to say." She exhaled sharply, before allowing her paws to run ever so softly from his hips onto his outer thighs. "I want to wait for you, to save everything for the night of the Jellicle Ball, but... sometimes I just want to touch you. I just feel like all I want to do is dote all of my affection on you and use my paws to..." She dragged her fingertips through his fur, bristling down Pouncival's outer thighs to his knees. They glided through his fur to brush through against his inner thighs, then teasingly returned to rest against his hips once more. "Touch you. Just with my paws." Tantomile was breathing heavily as she glanced down, to see that the tom she was touching was quite clearly enjoying her touch.

Pouncival found himself gasping before he even knew for sure what was going on, but her words were quite clear. He nodded his head, but had to voice his fears. "I've never done anything even close to this before ever." Yet he nodded again. "I want this though, Tants, I really want this so terribly badly you have no idea." It only took a moment for him to realise what the right thing to do was, and he leaned his head forward to press their lips together once more. His arms wrapped tightly around her neck, his body leaned into hers and they shared a wonderfully passionate kiss.

Not everyone was having as good a time as Tantomile and Pouncival.

In fact, it would have to be said that Macavity was quite decidedly having a far worse time.

"He's waking up."

Those were the first words that Macavity heard. Or at least, the first words he could be sure to have heard. His body ached, his head pounded, though he very quickly recognised that he was not feeling much pain. This was wrong.

He opened his eyes to find that not only he could not feel his paws, he could not move them either. How demeaning.

"What have you done to me?" He slurred, unable to see who was around him as he could only stare up at the ceiling. This problem was soon corrected as he was moved into an upright position, propped against a bed and the wall. His head lolled to the side as he found himself unable to lift it, his body completely lifeless. His eyes were still adjusting to the dim light in the room.

"Jellylorum has provided us with a number of syringes from her human, who happens to be a vet." Munkustrap placed Macavity against the side of a bed. "She says that the paralytic should wear off sometime in the next two-to-four hours, so we'll just have to keep pumping you full of it to stop you from moving."

Macavity's eyes began to adjust to the dim light. Munkustrap was stood directly in front of him, of that he was sure. Slightly further away appeared to be Alonzo, Tugger and Old Deuteronomy. Nobody looked particularly amused – aside from Macavity, who began to chuckle. "You're just like me." He purred through a slow drawl, his voice clearly affected heavily by the drugs.

Munkustrap shook his head. "You're in my basement." He stated plainly, trying to keep his emotions under control. It was all he could do to prevent himself from attacking the ginger tom where he sat. "And you're going to stay here until we've all worked out how this ends." He did not want to look at Macavity, which the tom immediately picked up on.

"Why don't we just get it over with and make out, already?" Macavity smirked, a half-grin which turned into a full blown laugh when Munkustrap lashed out at him, laying a full set of claws against his cheek. "Yes!" Macavity yelled, feeling the pain of the claws leaving new cuts on his face. "Beautiful! Delicious! I would hit my prisoners like this too! You're such a good me, you can take over for me when I'm gone."

"We haven't fixed your wounds." Munkustrap snapped. He looked down at the ginger tom's injuries, remaining quiet for just a moment to give Macavity a chance for it to sink in. "You're nothing short of lucky that you even woke up. We were all hoping that you might bleed to death and spare one of us the burden." He took a number of deep breaths, trying to calm himself.

Macavity gave a loud, fake laugh before spitting on Munkustrap's chest. "Then kill me." He could not see or feel the extent of his injuries – which was possibly a good thing, because they were utterly terrible. The list included a torn tendon in his right ankle from Etcetera's bite, severe bruises to his skull from Mistoffelees' kicks, and deep gashes in his face and arms from Tugger's slashes, amongst other things.

The one injury that Macavity could feel was a pounding headache from the stomp that rendered him unconscious the day before. Yet in extreme contrast to this pain, Macavity began purring, an unsettling sound that seemed completely at odds with his predicament. Munkustrap simply growled and backed away, allowing another cat to come forward – Old Deuteronomy. Macavity stopped laughing at the sight of his father.

"You will be pleased to know that Pouncival is alive and well." The elderly cat stated firmly. "Whatever happened to you to break your head like this, I shall never understand. You once had so much potential, Macavity. To think that my own son would betray me like this is unfathomable."

Macavity did not laugh or smile. He looked Deuteronomy dead in the eyes and scowled. "You screwed me up, old man." A wide smile suddenly appeared on Macavity's cheeks, as the blood from his fresh wound dripped over the corner of his mouth. He lapped at the blood and made a satisfied groan. "You did this, now take responsibility for your actions and kill yourself."

Deuteronomy began to lean down before carefully sitting on the floor beside Macavity, with Munkustrap's assistance. His voice dropped to something quiet and weary, reflecting his exhaustion. "Would that make you happy? Would all of this suffering finally end if I were to end my own life? I suspect not." He heaved a heavy sigh, shaking his head at the terrible sight in front of him. "How did this happen, Maccy?" Deuteronomy placed his paw on the ginger tom's shoulder. Macavity tried to pull away, but found that he could not. He was completely incapable of moving anything below his neck.

"I told you already." Macavity refused to show any kind of remorse for his actions. Perhaps the worst part of this was that, in his mind, he was completely without fault. As far as he was concerned, his terrible deeds were completely justified and his father was to blame for all of them. "You should have kissed and cuddled me more as a kit, daddy." Macavity gave his father a patronising smile.

He had been half-expecting Deuteronomy to give him some kind of affection in response to those words, but the older cat was not buying into his mind-games. "You are a murderer." Deuteronomy stated very plainly. "You are responsible for the deaths of my great friends Skimbleshanks and Jennyanydots, and now you have taken the life of a young kitten as well. Etcetera was not yet even eighteen."

Macavity rolled his eyes and spat at Deuteronomy. "I do not care. Their deaths have served a higher purpose." He was falling back into his mind-games. "Or perhaps it was just random acts of violence. Either way, I'm glad to hear that Etcetera died. I threw her in that glass pit so hard I was hoping I'd managed to break her neck. I mean, it's a shame that my awful brother failed to die as well when I flung him in there, but I guess you-"

"Silence." Old Deuteronomy stated coldly. Macavity stopped talking; it seemed that his father still had some control over him when using such a tone. "Too many years of my life have been spent hoping that you might somehow change. I am not embarrassed to state that I even asked the Eternal Cat to grant you a sense of morality, that you might return to me as my son. Now I can see that you are beyond redemption."

Macavity began to laugh. "Redemption!" He blurted out, feeling his lip beginning to shiver. "Should I be impressed that you prayed to a non-existent super-being for me? Because I'm really not. I would have been more impressed if you had tried sacrificing some newborns to Satan himself, who I hear is currently torturing Asparagus in the pits of hell-"

"Shut up." Deuteronomy momentarily lost his calm. Macavity was taken aback by this, but broke into more laughter as Munkustrap helped Deuteronomy to his feet. "Oh no, it's going to be another slap on the wrist!" Macavity spat on his father's fur. "You'll exile me again! You might even tell me never to return! You Jellicles are all the same. Too much compassion, no anger, no malevolence. You all want to kill me but none of you have the balls."

"Our father gave you a final chance to redeem yourself and apologise." Munkustrap stated as he placed his paw around Deuteronomy's waist. "You failed."

Alonzo came closer and shared a brief glance with Munkustrap, before helping Old Deuteronomy out of the room – leaving Munkustrap and Tugger alone with Macavity.

"Sorry that you didn't manage to kill me too, love." Tugger purred as he took centre-stage in front of Macavity. "Do you like my bandages? Bombalurina says I look hot wearing them, and I'm pretty sure Mistoffelees had the same idea. It's like getting blood out of a stone, talking to that kit." He lifted a small box from the floor and placed it on the bed that Macavity was propped up against.

Macavity fluttered his eyebrows as though he were flirting with Tugger. "Are we going to have a threesome right now? Because if we are, you guys are going to have to do most of the work. I'll happily take one for the team if it means we can push this along-"

Once again he was cut off, this time by Tugger. "You don't get it do you, Mac?" He reached into the box and pulled out two things – a roll of duct tape and a syringe. "These injections to paralyse you, stop you from moving and using your powers... well, Jellylorum said that we must not give you more than one shot of this stuff at a time, or it could have terrible side-effects." Tugger placed the syringe on the floor and stretched out the duct tape to rip off a section. "I asked her what would happen if we used all of the shots on you at once, and she said it would almost definitely kill you, especially if I shove one in your heart. I mean, I told her that I'd have to find one first, we both had a chuckle about that. Ah, memories."

Macavity was stunned. They were actually going to kill him. "Bravo." He grinned broadly. "I was hoping that you might give me such a nice send-off-" He felt Tugger's fist colliding with the side of his face, a vicious blow which stopped him from speaking for just a moment. "Quiet time." Tugger smirked as he stuck that torn-off strand of tape across the ginger tom's mouth, silencing him.

Munkustrap settled himself beside Tugger, who handed him the syringe from the floor. Munkustrap frowned at Macavity. "I wanted you to live." His voice was quieter than before, more resigned to the inevitability of what they would have to do. "Even despite everything you have done, I argued your case. I begged for your life to be spared." He rolled the needle in his paws, keeping his eyes locked on Macavity's cold gaze. "But you have gone too far. I was the only one who would have seen you live, but our father would not hear it. In order to secure the safety of our tribe forevermore, you must stop breathing. I hope you manage to hold on long enough to wish you had never been born at all."

Munkustrap paused just before he stabbed the syringe into Macavity's stomach, offering up a few words for him: "Because apparently, this really, really hurts." He jammed the needle into the ginger tom's gut, pressing down on the top. Though the paralytic prevented Macavity from feeling the pain of the needle, he immediately felt the agony of the chemical flowing through him and let out a harrowing, muffled moan through his makeshift gag. It felt like acid melting his insides, it was horrendous. "That was for those I failed to protect." Munkustrap stated firmly, leaving the needle sticking from Macavity's gut. "May the Everlasting Cat grant them eternal life."

As Munkustrap reached into the box to get another syringe, Tugger got his ready. "We both spoke to a lot of cats in the tribe last night." Tugger rolled the needle in his paws, keeping his eyes fixed on Macavity's bleak expression. Sweat was building in the tom's brow, his fur starting to become matted to his face. "Mungojerrie wanted you to know that he always really, really hated you." Tugger jammed the syringe into Macavity's gut as well, pressing down to fill him with the foul liquid held within.

Munkustrap suddenly stabbed his needle beside the other two. "Rumpleteazer wanted you to know that Etcetera was one of her best friends." Incensed by the words that had come out of his own mouth, Munkustrap felt even more emotional. He drew out the needle and stabbed it in over and over again, creating multiple small wounds before finally pressing down on the plunger and drawing another yell of agony from Macavity.

Munkustrap and Tugger continued this act, interchanging between one another with each new stab and dedicating them all to different cats in the tribe. "Plato told me that Skimbleshanks was like a father to him." Tugger spat as he stabbed Macavity in the chest. "Jennyanydots was the most loving queen Jellylorum had ever met." Said Munkustrap as he directed his needle into Macavity's shoulder. "Etcetera will never be forgotten, unlike you." Growled Tugger as he shoved another needle into Macavity's arm. "That one was another from me."

One-by-one Munkustrap and Tugger gave Macavity their reasons for taking his life; the hatred, anger and sadness of the Jellicles, before adding new syringes to those already sticking out from his body. After what seemed like an age for Macavity yet only a few minutes to Tugger and Munkustrap, they glanced in the box to see that there were only three needles left.

Munkustrap moved Macavity's head slightly and jammed his needle into the tom's neck. He pressed down on the plunger, which drew yet another agonised groan from Macavity's throat. By this point, his eyes had shut. The ginger tom appeared incapable of opening them, a fact which led Munkustrap to emotionally rip the duct tape from Macavity's mouth. "You have tormented my tribe. There are two cats who had great reason to wish to add to your suffering."

Munkustrap drew another deep breath and got to his feet. But this was not for a moment of respite, it was merely to allow him to turn and approach the door. He went through it, returning after a short while with another tom. They both approached Macavity before Munkustrap stopped. Tugger gave way as well, backing up somewhat to allow this cat a moment with Macavity.

"Apparently you are still alive." A cold, stoic voice drew from the tom standing in the den. Another voice joined the first: "I've been really looking forward to this."

Coricopat and Mistoffelees were seething.

Coricopat knelt down in front of Macavity and lifted one of the needles from the box. "I do not know if you can hear me. Frankly, I do not care. I just want you to know, before you are finally removed from this plain of existence, that if this really was all about my sister, it was for nothing." Coricopat held the syringe tightly in his paw. He had discovered this plan by accident in the morning, stumbling upon a conversation between Munkustrap and Tugger after he had left Tantomile and Pouncival to give them a moment of privacy. Coricopat had begged Munkustrap to allow him this moment.

"Last night, Pouncival woke up from the nightmare he has been living for two years." Coricopat stated calmly as he looked at the mess of a cat in front of him. "He and Tantomile kissed. He is happy, chirpy, ecstatic. So without knowing it, by almost killing him you actually saved him." He raised the syringe high in the air, swinging it down violently to make a motion to stab Macavity in the eye – before stopping himself suddenly.

He handed the syringe to Mistoffelees. "That is why I shall not be adding to your suffering. Whether you like it or not, you are now responsible for Pouncival recovering part of his happiness." He patted Macavity on the top of the head. "And that is why, despite your unforgivable actions, I forgive you. By trying to make his life worse, you have only succeeded in making his life better. Now you will die with the knowledge that, however inadvertently, your final actions were to bring happiness to a group of us. Thank you."

With that, Coricopat got to his feet. He was fighting back tears, trying to remain strong and stoic in the face of this terrible sight. Munkustrap shared a brief, knowing glance with Tugger before patting Coricopat's back and leading him out of the room. But this time, Munkustrap did not return. Now it was just Macavity, Mistoffelees and Tugger.

Mistoffelees lifted the syringe that Coricopat had handed to him. "Open your fucking eyes." He growled, angered by Macavity's lack of action. He leant forwards and lifted the ginger tom's eye-lid, forcing him to look. "Two visions you tortured me, two visions you made me suffer, two visions you made me feel death." He growled and spat on Macavity's red fur. "I guess you know that you've only got a few minutes left to live. Coricopat may have been keen to make some kind of emotional statement or whatever, but make no mistake about it, I'm doing this because I'm just really, really pissed off." With that, he completed the task that Coricopat had not dained to do – he ruthlessly swung and stabbed the needle deep into Macavity's left eye, before pressing down on the plunger to release the acidic chemical within. The scream that left Macavity's mouth was perhaps the most harrowing of all.

"He's all yours, Tugger." Mistoffelees spat as he got to his feet and turned to walk away. He left the room with a quiet confidence, feeling substantially empowered by his malevolent actions. Now it was just Macavity and Tugger.

Tugger lifted two syringes from the box, holding them in both of his paws. "The last two before it becomes fatal." Tugger stated slowly. "It must suck to be you right now. But hey, maybe this will cheer you up – You want to know whose idea this was?" He leant in close, a quiet snarl oozing from his throat. Tugger was filled with anger, thoughts of Etcetera danced through his mind as he lifted a needle high into the air before stabbing it into Macavity's groin. "Mine."

Macavity somehow left out another weak, soft groan after Tugger pressed down on the plunger, through a lifeless expression. There was not only no movement, but Macavity's breathing had almost come to a stop. He was still awake, still conscious of what was being said. He would have been crying through the agonising pain, but the paralytics had frozen even that physical function. He felt no remorse for his actions, only distress through the debilitating pain of that liquid pouring into him, the most recent causing pain he could not describe.

"You murdered my friend in cold blood." Tugger hissed as he ran the sharp point of the final syringe along Macavity's chest, avoiding the various other needles sticking from his body. There were now nineteen needles protruding at various angles from the body of the ginger tom. "This is revenge, this is for her, this is to make sure that you can never hurt someone I love ever again."

"Please..." The words uttered from Macavity's mouth so quietly that Tugger could hardly be certain that he had even heard them, though he was sure of the next two: "...spare me..."

Tugger shook his head. "Sorry, Mac." With that, he stabbed the final needle deep into Macavity's chest, past his ribs and through his heart. Tugger pressed the plunger to force the paralytic into his body, which quickly took effect. It only took a few seconds for Macavity's heartbeat to slow to a near crawl.

After half a minute, his heart had stopped beating entirely.

Once he was sure that Macavity was gone, that his heart had taken its final beat, that no pulse rushed through his body and that no more air was travelling into his lungs, Tugger placed a solitary paw over his eyes and began to cry. No matter how much he hated Macavity, no matter how much hatred, anger, spite and malice he felt towards the ginger cat, he was still his brother. They were once siblings who played together as kittens, who laughed together as teenagers and who talked together as young adults. To not only lose his brother, but to have to be responsible for that death as well, it was difficult.

Tugger would have to bear this burden for a long time, and in truth he would never completely rid himself of the feeling of taking a life – especially the life of a cat who once meant so much to him. For now, as Tugger left the small, cold room, he could not help but wonder what would have happened if Macavity had turned out alright. Who would still be alive, how much more wonderful would the world be? It was when Tugger began to walk up the stairs leading out of the basement that he managed to stem the tears, only to be greeted by Munkustrap, Mistoffelees and Coricopat on the top step.

"Come on, Tugger." Munkustrap stated simply, offering his paw. "Today has been traumatic. Let us return to the injured cats above us and not ever speak of this again. As far as anyone ever has to know, Macavity's injuries proved too much for him. Are we agreed?"

They were.


	8. I Wish I'd Told You I Love You Too

_**Warning: **_This chapter **does not **contain any rape, violence, slash or gore. It does, however, contain a single moment of foul language.

If you're a fan of the other chapters in this fic, I'm sure you'll just adore _Wicked Games_ by **pouncii**, which depicts an even more gruesome and terrifying Macavity than mine.

* * *

"Okay I'm not looking so if you two are touching each other just say so and I'll leave."

"Shush. Pounce is asleep."

Coricopat took his paw away from his eyes as he looked across the small room, to see Tantomile sat happily in the far corner, a bundle of blankets and cushions providing great comfort for her. True to her words, Pouncival was fast asleep, his head rested gently against her thigh. He was both snoring and drooling onto her leg, but she really did not care. The one very obvious thing was that he was happy. Happy and _not ill._

It was evening. Quite late in the evening of a day both cats would remember vividly.

Coricopat smiled at the sight before him. "Good, because I brought presents." He lifted his paw to reveal a small canvas bag. Slowly he closed the door shut and made some quiet footsteps across the room. For a long time now, their rule had been never to wake a sleeping Pouncival. Especially one that looked so peaceful.

"Cori, I'm so happy." Tantomile said with a warm smile as her brother slowly sat beside her. "Today was one of the most incredible days of my life." She spoke with a whisper, being very careful not to wake up her sleeping mate. "He's changed, Cori. He's changed so much you wouldn't believe it. He laughs now, he shows empathy. He's changed back into Pounce, my Pounce is back."

Coricopat struggled to believe her. "You have had a tough few days, Tantomile – _we _have had a tough few days. A horde of utterly out-of-sorts things have occurred. Perhaps it would be wise to hold off the celebration until we are absolutely certain that he has truly changed." He was being the voice of reason. As noted before, mental disorders cannot be simply 'turned off', and the last thing Coricopat wanted to see was his sister get her hopes up only for them to be dashed to the ground.

"You don't understand." Tantomile stated simply, refusing to stop smiling as she very gently stroked her paw along Pouncival's back. "He remembers things, he wants to learn things he forgot. He has so much agency, so much self-awareness. He wanted to know about when he hurt himself... he doesn't want to do it anymore. Just by the way he was talking, I know he's telling the truth."

Coricopat shook his head in disbelief as he reached to the small bag to empty it. "I hope for all of our sakes that you are correct – perhaps we should simply leave it at that." He shook the bag, emptying its contents onto the floor. From the bag fell only three things – a blanket, a teddy-bear and a cushion. "You cannot have a Pouncival without his three favourite things."

Tantomile was beaming. "You sewed the blanket." She said quickly, reaching out to grab it. "I didn't finish, I was too busy..." Oh. She suddenly remembered exactly what she had been too busy doing. It was only a few days ago, that late evening spent with Mistoffelees. The following morning when they kissed. Guilt began to wash through her, there was no way she could feel good about those actions. She sighed.

Coricopat took the blanket and spread it over Pouncival's sleeping form. "I am certain that whatever you were doing it was rather important." He stated calmly, almost knowingly. He lifted the cushion next, placing it gently beside Pouncival's head. "Do you think we can move him softly enough that he will not wake up?"

Tantomile began to shake her head before realising that this was a perfect opportunity to test her theory that the tom was better. "The past couple of years, he has been a really light sleeper, but he used to be such a heavy sleeper, right? Well, this'll prove he's changed. I bet you can move him onto that pillow and he won't even bat an eyelid."

Coricopat raised an eyebrow as he lifted the soft teddy-bear to place it beside Pouncival as well. "I shall take that bet." He said simply, rising to his feet and moving around Tantomile. "Of course, I should hope you know that I sincerely hope that you are correct with your assertion." And with that, he very gently slipped an arm around Pouncival, with his other paw sliding underneath the tom's head. He lifted him very carefully, turning slightly before placing him ever-so-safely on top of the cushion. Pouncival remained fast asleep.

Coricopat was half-tempted to do a victory lap around the room in celebration at his achievement, but thought better of it. Instead, he simply tucked the blanket around Pouncival and slid the teddy-bear to be against his arms. Much to his surprise, Pouncival let out a happy little sound and pulled the soft toy closer, as a wide smile fell upon his lips despite his slumber. Coricopat looked at Tantomile incredulously, who simply nodded.

"I told you so." Tantomile said quietly as she repositioned herself, shaking her leg slightly after Pouncival had been lying on it. She placed her paw on the bandages and patted them gently. "He's sound asleep. I haven't seen him so peaceful for a long time." She slowly took to her feet, grimacing slightly and trying not to put any weight on her left foot.

Coricopat moved swiftly across the room and wrapped Tantomile's arm around his shoulder, offering her support to be able to stand. "How are you feeling?" He asked quietly, taking note of her demeanour. Both cats had suffered painful injuries at the hands of Macavity, but for the most part their wounds were not too serious. He was mindful about her foot though, which had been completely bandaged up.

"Better." She said quietly, glancing at the ground. "He burned all the fur off one of my paws. It doesn't hurt too bad, maybe I just feel ashamed of it more than anything." She fidgeted slightly to be able to better rest against him. "Thanks for helping me stand for a little bit. I guess some things still hurt physically, but... well, it sounds stupid considering everything that's happened, but after today... mentally I feel worlds better than I have for a very long time! I mean, actually kinda physically too..."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Coricopat asked as he helped Tantomile move slowly across the room. They had agreed the night before that every day they would do this, they would help rehabilitate each other through small exercises. In this case, he was simply helping her walk so that she would be able to start putting weight on her foot again. "You said, 'kind of physically too'. What is that to mean?"

"Uhm... nothing." Tantomile said quickly as she glanced to the side. She had always confided in Coricopat no matter what, and after quick reflection she decided that there was no reason for now to be any different. "Okay, actually, something really awesome." Perhaps she had spent too much time around Pouncival, or perhaps she was simply excited, but Tantomile was beginning to sound rather a lot like her mate.

And Coricopat was not above making fun of her for it. "Keep using contractions and saying words like 'awesome' and in a few short weeks we shall just have to paint a brown patch over your eye." This made her laugh, which in turn made him smile broadly. "I will bite the hook you are dangling in front of me. What happened? You know I was joking when I came into the room covering my eyes earlier."

"Well, if you'd barged into the room like that a few hours earlier, uhm..." Tantomile trailed off momentarily as they reached the end of the room. She twitched and placed her paws against the wall as Coricopat released her, forcing her to put all of her weight on her feet and stand without assistance. "I touched him and he touched me and this hurts, y'know that?" She was still whispering, knowing full well that there was a sleeping cat on the other side of the room.

Coricopat jokingly covered his ears. "La la la laaaa..." He said chirpily, glancing around the room. Once he was satisfied that Tantomile's mouth had stopped moving, he dropped his paws to his sides and rested against the wall. "On a list of a million things I never want to hear about ever, my sister having sex is definitely at the top of that list. Did you sleep with him? You would not have slept with him. I did not think-"

"I didn't sleep with him." Tantomile confirmed as she pushed herself forwards from the wall, forcing herself to stand on her own two feet. Her left foot gave way after a few moments, but Coricopat was there to steady her so that she did not fall. "We just... touched each other. A lot. Until he-"

"La la la la laaaa!" Coricopat repeated, this time clenching his eyes shut as though that would somehow prevent him from hearing her speak. He opened his eyes again and took a step away from Tantomile. "What did we just talk about? The list of things I do not want to hear about. Please do not tell me about these things. But..." He glanced over to Pouncival and drew a breath, considering whether he should say what was on his mind. No. That would be foolish.

He wanted to tell Tantomile that he did not approve of her doing anything involving touching with Pouncival, especially after the traumas that they had both experienced over the past few days. Beside the possibility of taking advantage of him, he was concerned that Pouncival was still unwell, that it was genuinely a terrible thing that she did.

But looking at her happy expression... that would be a stupid thing to say. He would see for himself later if Pouncival was truly better, if that lucidity the day before had something more substantial behind it. Besides, he had something else to tell Tantomile about for now. "Since we are on the subject, the rumour is that there will be another Jellicle Ball in a few days."

Tantomile began to steady herself before stopping quite suddenly, freezing to the spot and fixing her gaze on Coricopat with a shocked expression. "A few_ days_?" She exclaimed, looking over at Pouncival in disbelief. "But, but... we're hurt! I mean, I'm hurt! You're hurt! How can I dance like this? I can't even stand! My legs hurt, my body hurts, I-"

Coricopat moved closer and patted her on the back. "It will be okay, Tantomile." He said simply, nodding his head gently. "If it is to happen, then we shall simply sing more than we dance. It will be a glorious celebration of life without fear, of life without... well... without Macavity."

Tantomile almost collapsed to the floor in surprise, instead choosing to focus her falling into Coricopat's arms. She held onto him tightly, breathing heavily. There was an obvious question, his statement had to have meaning behind it – it was simply the fact that she was afraid of the answer. Fortunately for Tantomile, she did not have to ask.

"Macavity is dead." Coricopat said simply. He laid a small kiss on Tantomile's cheek and hugged her warmly, holding her in a gentle embrace. "His wounds proved too much for him. Just as with Etcetera, that... that poor girl... just as with her, he lost too much blood. Macavity died this afternoon, he is no more. There shall be a Jellicle Ball in memory of those that have passed – that is the rumour circling the tribe." Coricopat had lied about the way Macavity passed away, just like Munkustrap said. Things were easier this way. Simpler.

It should be said that for a long while, neither of the cats said anything. The news was quite incredible – the tom that had tormented Tantomile in such a terrible way was finally gone. Perhaps she would never know quite the full extent of his crimes, but the simple fact that he could never bother her again took a huge weight from her shoulders. Everything was finally beginning to look up. Happy. Content. Wonderful.

And there was going to be a Jellicle Ball. The fact that Pouncival and Tantomile had only been talking about the Ball that morning was a particular coincidence to her, but far more than anything else was the new burden that fell on her shoulders – they had spoken of consummating their relationship on the night of the next Jellicle Ball. She had simply thought that she might have more time to prepare herself.

"I'm scared, Cori." Were the words that Tantomile finally spoke, said with a small and meek voice. They were not the words that Coricopat expected to hear after informing her that the biggest threat on her life was finally gone forever, but they were most certainly the words she spoke. "Me and Pounce, we... we kinda wanted to, on the night of the next Jellicle Ball, we wanted to sleep together-"

"LA LA LADIDDY DA." Coricopat exclaimed, which earned him a loud 'shush!' from Tantomile as she pushed herself away from him. Both cats looked over to see if Pouncival stirred at all, but to their relief he appeared to still be asleep. "Okay, fine. Don't listen to me. But I'm going to talk to you about this sometime whether you like it or not." Tantomile said as she straightened herself to try and stand properly again.

Coricopat shrugged. "You can try all you like, but I am not going to listen to you talk about sex. As far as I am concerned, you do not have sex." He smirked and folded his arms again, returning to talk into a reasonably hushed voice so as to not wake Pouncival. "Just as I suppose you have very little interest in my sex life as well."

Tantomile rolled her eyes as she tried to steady herself again, this time managing to keep balance on the damaged foot. "Uh, are you kidding? Honestly Cori, if you were to ever find a partner, I would ask you a billion questions about it. Pounce would probably ask you loads as well. We'd both be really, really interested in knowing if you'll ever find a partner." She smirked to herself and took a very slow step forwards.

"How do you mean, 'if' I ever find a partner?" Coricopat took a step behind Tantomile to make sure he could catch her in case she fell. "I may have been sleeping with all the queens in this 'yard for all you know. Why, I could be a regular Rum Tum Tugger." He folded his arms and took a step alongside Tantomile, keeping himself close-by.

"Oh, please. Everyone and their Pollicle knows that you prefer toms." Tantomile took another slow step, placing the entirety of her weight on the injured foot before standing straight. A wide smile fell across her lips and she raised her arms in the air in victory at her achievement. "It's nothing to be ashamed of. C'mon, confide in me. Who d'you liiiiike?" She stressed that final syllable like a five-year-old might, turning to look at Coricopat with puppy-dog eyes.

"Perhaps I should just paint the brown patch over your eye right now and be done with it." He smirked, deflecting her question. Coricopat moved to wrap his arm around Tantomile and helped her go back across the room, though he did give her a slight nod in recognition of her achievement. But once they got there and began to settle down, it became clear that she had only one thing on her mind.

"Cori..." Tantomile said sweetly, trying to phrase her thoughts in the nicest way possible so as to not come across as cruel. "Don't you think you should maybe start thinking about perhaps kinda sorta looking for someone to settle down with? I mean, not in a mean way. Just in a kinda maybe Pounce and me might start wanting to be alone together a lot more often kinda way-"

That was it. He had tried to be nice about those kind of statements before, but he was very defensive on this topic. She was just poking him with a stick by saying that kind of thing. "Oh for fuck's sake, Tants. Stop planning your entire future together just because your boyfriend smiled at you for a whole day." Coricopat snapped.

It only took a micro-second for him to immediately regret speaking. "...is what I_ would _say if I were a total jackass! But fortunately, I am not a really horrible cat who would say something like that so shall we just pretend that I did not?" He bit his lip. That was a stupid thing to say.

But it hit home. Tantomile sighed as she sat herself down against the wall, resting comfortably alongside Pouncival. "No, you're right." Her expression had completely fallen, her voice dropped from ecstatic to sad. "I know you are right. You are always right." She glanced sadly at Pouncival and sighed, looking down at the floor. "I just wanted to pretend for a little while that everything was going to be okay."

Coricopat screwed up his eyes and jarred his paw against his forehead. "No, you are right." He snapped, moving to kneel beside Tantomile. "You are pretty much exactly right. I need to try harder to find a mate for myself. Do not listen to the rubbish that I spout from my mouth, because you are utterly correct when you say that Pouncival has changed. Even in sleep, he seems completely different. If he truly has changed, I suspect the both of you will want to spend a lot of time alone with each other... especially after today."

Tantomile sighed and looked up at him. Her face an exaggerated kind of crestfallen. "But how can I ever be sure? How can I know that I am correct and you are not? How can anything ever be the same?" She was laying it on thick.

Coricopat shook his head vigorously and grabbed Tantomile's shoulders, moving swiftly to stare directly into her eyes. "He is clearly incredibly better. I'm just unhappy because it is getting really hard to come to terms with the fact that you're going to leave me. But that is obvious. We are siblings, you will find love and be with him – you _have _found love. You should spend as many moments together as feasibly possible, many of those without me. I am just being mean and stupid because I have nobody in my life like you have in yours. And I wish I did."

Within a moment Tantomile's sad expression swiftly turned into one of excitement, matched with a wicked grin. "Told you." Had she just tricked him into admitting that Pouncival seemed different? How very unlike her. But then, Tantomile had been behaving very differently indeed since her day with Pouncival. She suddenly jumped back into mirroring his excitement and register, as well as what appeared to be his playfulness. "He's a hundred times different. It's awesome."

Coricopat looked stunned and shook his head in disbelief at her prank. "What!" He exclaimed, but the happy expression on her face was enough to make the shock drift away. "I suppose I deserved that. You are so different, Tants. He makes you so happy." He sighed and glanced up at the ceiling, sliding down the wall to be lying flat against the floor, his head rested against a large cushion. "Do you think the future has that in store for myself as well? Is it possible that I should also find happiness like you have with Pouncival?"

Tantomile smiled and nodded. "I'm sure you will. You'll definitely 100% find love you silly tom!" She pushed herself down the wall as well and curled up beside him, resting her head against his chest. "I promise you will. I mean, is there anyone you find attractive right now?"

"No. Well, yes, but... it is complicated. The only cat I found myself drawn to a few years ago has been... unavailable for a while. I doubt he will ever be a viable prospect for a relationship." He was happy for Tantomile, life had finally given her a break and she was in high spirits. "As you are most probably going to draw it out of me anyway, I may as well admit it now... yes. Fine. It would be true to say that I _may _have a _minor attraction _to th-"

"Wait, let me guess!" She said quickly, sitting up swiftly and placing her paws on Coricopat's chest. She glanced back sharply to check that Pouncival had not been woken by her sudden movements. "Who do you like? Hmm... Mistoffelees? Oh, that would be so perfect if you liked Mistoffelees. Please tell me you like Mistoffelees."

Coricopat raised an eyebrow at Tantomile as if she were crazy. "Please." He said with a disparaging tone, brushing off the allegation. "We trained that kitten in magic. It would be rather disgusting of me to become romantically involved with him. Hell, that would be dangerously close to abuse." He watched her face fall and began to consider exactly why she had pushed Mistoffelees so much, but the reason was not forthcoming. He assumed that it was simply because he was a mutual friend. "What is he, seventeen? I am thirty-four."

Tantomile rolled her eyes as she moved to straddle her brother's chest, pinning him to the ground. "For starters, you're thirty-five." She chuckled and rested her paws on his shoulders, being careful to avoid the bandages covering his upper arm. "Mistoffelees is nineteen now. And what is an age difference anyway? Pounce was nineteen when I started going out with him. Age has nothing to do with it."

Coricopat stared at Tantomile with a look of surprise. She was being exceptionally 'touchy-feely' today, which he also attributed to her spending so much time with Pouncival. It also provided evidence that Pouncival had indeed changed, having encouraged this behaviour in her. "I just don't find him attractive. Whenever I look at him, all I see is the kitten we taught. I would feel as if I were taking advantage of him to go any further."

Tantomile shook her head and began to give Coricopat a gentle shoulder massage. "Fine, no Misto for you. But you're missing out – I hear he likes you." Now that was a lie. Perhaps she was hoping that she would feel less guilty about her indiscretion with Mistoffelees if he found a different partner? Indeed, after everything Mistoffelees had done for her over the past few days, she felt terribly guilty. Not that that guilt manifested itself on her face at all. "But who do you like? Tugger? Everyone adores Tugger."

"Whilst the Rum Tum Tugger has a certain... appeal... I sincerely doubt that we live in a world where he would ever take a second look at me." Coricopat tried to shake his head at her again, but found himself instead warming into the soothing massage. "Besides, he's too fluffy."

"Since when was fluff a bad thing?" A small voice cooed from across the room. Both cats looked over to see that Pouncival's eyes were open, he was hugging the stuffed bear tightly and snuggled up in his blanket. "Thank you for bringing me my thingies, Cori. It's hard to get snuggly without them." He was obviously still half-asleep, sounding remarkably happy for someone who had just woken up.

"...how long have you been awake?" Coricopat asked quietly as he stared at Pouncival, truly surprised to hear the cheer in his voice. He was so used to hearing Pouncival with a dour tone, hearing him miserable or angry, it was a welcome relief to hear a happy tune sung from Pouncival's lips. "And how did you-"

"Long enough." Pouncival remarked with a wry smile. "I know you brought me my thingies because you always do things like that for me." In actual fact, recently Coricopat had not done many things for Pouncival. A week or so ago Coricopat's relationship with Tantomile had become so fractured that they hardly spoke, yet this attack on the Junkyard had truly brought them together.

Perhaps Coricopat's words to Macavity had represented that. His relief for Pouncival's calm mental state was one thing, but another was the simple renewed lustre he had for his well-being. The fact that Coricopat found that, after everything, he truly cared for Pouncival more than he had ever known before, that when faced with losing him everything just became too difficult to bear. Coricopat would never forget Pouncival's face when he was not breathing, that lifeless expression. Nothing could be worse for him, he had never seen a sight so terrible. Even what Macavity had done to Etcetera did not compare in Coricopat's mind.

Tantomile slid to the side of Coricopat as she released his shoulders and reached out to Pouncival, who took her paw and drew closer. Pouncival wrapped his arms around Tantomile in a small hug and reached for Coricopat with his free arm, who dutifully moved closer to join the embrace. All three cats warmly held one another for a short moment, before Pouncival broke the silence in a way rather typical of him:

"You're both really loud. And I'd like to guess that you're very mushily in love with... Plato?"

Coricopat shook his head as he leaned back slightly. "Sorry, not Plato. I honestly do not know if you would be able to – wait, _how long were you listening for._" He suddenly felt a wave of embarrassment wash over him, as well as an element of fear. For if Pouncival had been listening for long enough, he would have heard Coricopat's cruel remark about him.

Pouncival shrugged. "I kind of woke up when you were saying you were madly, desperately in love with someone. Like I said, you're really, really loud." Tantomile immediately laughed at Pouncival's words, turned her head to grin at Coricopat.

The mystic tom bit his lip in frustration as he felt the pair ganging up on him, though part of him felt incredibly nostalgic. Things had been similar to this a long time ago, three or four years ago to be exact. Those were the days of happy-go-lucky Pouncival being terrifically in love with Tantomile, and back in those days this kind of thing was rather common. Coricopat sighed and rolled his eyes. "I am not madly, nor desperately, in love with anyone. It may be possible that I have harboured feelings for a particular cat for a while, but I honestly cannot see how useful those feelings are... and not to be difficult, Pounce, but I would rather not tell you who. I tell my sister everything, but to tell you... I do not think it would be appropriate."

What could that possibly mean.

Tantomile stared at her brother for a few moments while the words permeated through her mind. That was a riddle for her to solve, and she knew it. Which cat could Coricopat be interested in that would be inappropriate, and why to Pouncival rather than her? A few thoughts dashed through her mind. It could not be... Pouncival, right? The thought burned in her head like a bad memory, things would be impossible if-

Oh.

It was obvious. The fact that Coricopat said the tom he was interested in had been 'unavailable' rather than in a relationship. The cat that she had known he was interested in a few years ago, the one he had even spent a few nights with after she had fallen in love with Pouncival. All of these things happened so long ago, the thought had not even occurred to her that Coricopat would react to his return. How conspicuous he had been to not even talk about him, and how particular that they could not even do so now with Pouncival still in the room. To mention his name to Pouncival would be nothing short of cruel.

Not until they knew he was better.

Tantomile broke the embrace so that she could tap Coricopat on the shoulder. He turned to face her and she drew a sharp breath. "When you say that he was unavailable for a while... would it be accurate to say that 'while' was approximately two years? And would this explain where you have been all day, if I were to suggest you were in the room just down the hall?"

Coricopat instantly broke the embrace from his side and glanced at the floor. He did not say anything, nor did he need to. Tantomile had worked out that Coricopat was still romantically attracted to Tumblebrutus.

It had all started rather honestly. The very night that Tantomile and Pouncival got together, Coricopat took Tumblebrutus back to his parents' house. After a bizarre culmination of events, Coricopat had ended up sleeping alongside Tumblebrutus that evening, and after a long conversation in the morning the pair had spent a few more nights together. Initially simply 'hanging out', as Tumblebrutus had put it, but this soon turned into something more romantic.

Or at least, something more physical. Nothing really came from it by way of a relationship, but Coricopat had told Tantomile of his attraction to Pouncival's brother a few years ago. On the night that Macavity attacked, taking Tumblebrutus with him, things became somewhat difficult for Coricopat as well – but of course his feelings fell by the wayside when Pouncival gradually descended into mental chaos. It was ultimately Coricopat's relationship with his sister that suffered and became fragmented. He did not expect to suddenly feel Pouncival's arms wrapped around him in a tight hug.

"Uhm, Cori..." Pouncival said quietly as he looked at the pair. "I don't know if this would help at all or even if it's something you believe in, but..." He trailed off slightly as the twins turned to look at him. Pouncival glanced to the side before summoning the courage to say what he wanted to say, moving to hold Coricopat's paws. "Would you like to.. uhm... would you like to pray for him?"

Both Tantomile and Coricopat looked stunned. Of course, Pouncival's statement made quite a lot more sense to the tom than it did to them. "It makes me feel better sometimes." Pouncival continued, a rather sheepish expression plastered on his face. "Because you're kinda obviously saying that you had feelings for my brother. And whenever I get sad about losing Tumble, I like to do a little prayer in my head that makes me feel better."

As noted before, the twins had not yet told Pouncival that Macavity had returned Tumblebrutus to the tribe before launching his attack. There were a few reasons for this, but the primary ones concerned the fact that Tumblebrutus was in a terrible physical condition. Simply seeing him would be incredibly difficult, not to mention the fact that he was still unconscious – there was no telling if he would ever wake up. It seemed unnecessarily cruel to put Pouncival through the trauma of seeing his brother like that, giving him the hope that he might live, only to take it away if he did not make it.

Tantomile was beginning to think that it might have been just as cruel to put Coricopat through that trauma as well now that she knew he had feelings for the tom, but part of her still wondered if it was terrible that they were continuing to lie to the tom she loved. Nevertheless, perhaps to continue the ruse, perhaps to placate Pouncival, or perhaps (and this would be the one that he would never admit to) Coricopat simply needed this, the mystic tom nodded to Pouncival. "What do you do?"

Pouncival gave both of Coricopat's paws a small squeeze. Tantomile released her embrace, sitting back slightly to watch this moment unfold between the pair. She clearly did not give Pouncival enough credit, of course when she said 'two years' it would mean a lot to him, if anyone had that date firmly fixed in his memory it would be her mate. But then, what would he think of her full statement? That Coricopat had been down the hall...

Simply put, Pouncival assumed that she meant Coricopat had spent the time on his own. This painted the picture of a very sad cat who was struggling to come to terms with another's passing, a feeling that Pouncival had felt very strongly for a long, long time. He was able to empathise with Coricopat so terribly that it became imperative for him to try and do something.

Even if the prayer was a little embarrassing.

"Okay, all you do is just close your eyes and we'll hold paws like this and maybe I'll just say what I usually think and then afterwards we hug or something." Pouncival spoke reasonably quickly, which drew a smile from Tantomile. Coricopat simply did as Pouncival said and closed his eyes, himself feeling remarkably embarrassed about the whole thing.

"It's really sad that you're not here anymore." Pouncival said quietly, his voice more or less a whisper, yet his tone quite content. "Like, really, really sad." Obviously this was the kind of thing that he was not used to saying out loud, but the twins respected what this was. He was talking to his brother, a cat he assumed to have passed away.

"I guess it's a shame you're not here Tumble because if you were, you'd be the first cat to say how stupid it is that I'm praying. Well, quit complaining. Now I'm praying for you so you'd better just smile and deal with it." Pouncival smirked as he spoke, still in that quiet tone but obviously rather cheerful. Perhaps the twins should both have guessed that any prayer of Pouncival's would be rather atypical.

"I wish you were still here. I keep remembering when we used to have fun as kits, how we used to wind up Dad or snuggle with Mum. Remember the time we stole Dad's scotch and drank loads of it and you did that quadruple-backflip off the roof? That was epic. Even if you did land on your face and broke your arm, it was still the most epic thing ever. I called you _Super-Tumble _for ages."

Tantomile shuffled slightly closer and closed her eyes, reaching forward to touch paws with the other two toms. They allowed her to and joined paws with her as well, making a small circle between the three of them. The truth was that despite Pouncival's chirpy tone, his words were really starting to choke her up. The guilt of not telling him that Tumblebrutus was technically alive (though not conscious) in the adjoining room was really getting to her, especially when her mate was being so heartfelt.

"I keep thinking about that time we climbed up that mound of junk just outside where all our homes were. When we sat on that chair and just watched everything from really high up. I was totally the best _Detective Pounce _that day. Wow that sounds lame. I was such a stupid kitten, thank goodness I'm nothing like that now." Pouncival felt both of his paws being squeezed tightly, a signal that neither of the cats sitting with him agreed that he was at all stupid. "I wish I'd told you I love you too. I'm so sorry I didn't tell you I love you back because you're the best bro ever."

"I still sleep with the blanket mum made for you." Pouncival said with that same tone, speaking just as though Tumblebrutus was sat opposite him. "I've got Cori and Tants here with me by the way. I hope that's okay. I know I never told anyone that she made the blanket for you and I just sleep with it now but hey, that's just how things go. You need to lighten up, bro. I feel like the blanket still kind of smells like you but I don't know if I really remember what you smell like anymore. I think you smelled like happiness and backflips though. Happiness and backflips and... cool... ness."

Pouncival was remaining completely upbeat throughout all of this, perhaps it was true that this was a prayer he had said many times, for otherwise how could his calm exterior be explained? Tantomile, on the other hand, was really beginning to lose the ability to keep herself together. A few tears began to build up in her eyes before blossoming into more and more, leaving her silently crying at the purity in her mate's words. She felt so terribly for him – not to mention the building guilt at keeping the truth about Tumblebrutus a secret.

"You are my best friend." The words echoed throughout the quiet room as the trio held paws, the silence only broken by the most unusual sound – Pouncival began purring. A purr that had not been heard for so long, yet it came now as a sign of his pure content and calm. "And you'll always be my bestest friend in the whole widest world no matter what happens, and I love you forever. So if you're listening to this – and why wouldn't you be – I guess I just wanted you to know that there's loads of us who're really sad that you're gone. Tell Mum and Dad that it's gonna be some time till I see them again, 'cause I've got two really good reasons to hold off coming to visit for a while."

With those parting words, Pouncival opened his eyes. "That's you two I was talking about then. I hope that was obvious..." He trailed off rather suddenly after looking at the mystic twins, for what he saw in front of him he had simply not expected to see at all. "Uh... guys? The prayer's over. Please stop crying."

Both of the twins opened their eyes in unison, their movements perfectly synchronised as they looked at one another, stifled a surprised laugh and broke the holding of paws in order to wipe tears from their own eyes. For it was not just Tantomile who had found Pouncival's words so heartbreaking that they drew tears – Coricopat had felt a similar effect. "You love him forever." Coricopat said quietly, looking up at Pouncival through the tears. "And you're purring."

That was it. Things had gotten too much. The guilt had built to a breaking point and though Pouncival's intentions had been kind – to make Coricopat feel better about his brother's passing – the simple truth of where Tumblebrutus was made things untenable for Tantomile. Unbearable. Impossible. Though she knew all of the reasons not to tell Pouncival the truth, they all fell to the wayside. She knew he was mentally better. She believed that he could handle the truth.

More than anything else, right now she knew without any doubt that he _deserved _to know the truth.

"Pounce-" She said with a small stutter, only to find that Coricopat instantly gripped her paw tightly and shot her a look. A silent warning not to speak – and one that she completely disregarded.

"I love you." Tantomile said quietly, which earned her a soft hug from her mate. They embraced for only a moment before she pulled herself from Coricopat's grip and placed her paws on Pouncival's cheeks, leaning in closely to press their foreheads together as she stared into his eyes. "Tumblebrutus... is alive."


	9. The First Nightmare

**Disclaimer: **This chapter may contain some things that will not rest easy on a kitten's eyes, including coarse language, graphic violence, graphic murder and tragedy. You may feel as though you need a shower after reading this – You have been warned.

* * *

"Tumblebrutus is alive."

The words permeated through Pouncival's head. Each syllable fell one after another, the statement slowly beginning to form some kind of sense. Or at least, the very basic meaning began to make sense. The wider context of how it could be at all possible was one that Pouncival could not comprehend, let alone consider. It could not have been Tantomile's intention to upset him, yet surely she must have known that revealing this information would cause him some kind of trouble.

"Could you be more specific?" He asked very quietly, his reaction remarkably understated considering the gravity of the news. In truth, he was lost within his own head, hundreds of new thoughts burgeoning and pressing at him. This did not make sense – it could not make sense. He had grieved for his brother years ago, come to terms with it even. To suddenly have this wound opened up again just did not make sense.

Coricopat placed his paw on Tantomile's shoulder. Whilst he was frustrated that she had decided to reveal this to Pouncival, he could understand her motives. Even he felt troubled lying to the tom about his brother, so it did not surprise him that she ultimately found it impossible to continue the charade. "Macavity returned him to us." Coricopat stated simply, not wanting to be at all misconstrued. "Tumblebrutus is alive, he is breathing, but he is not conscious."

Pouncival might have been angry that he had been allowed to be so honest with his earlier 'prayer' considering this news, but even that feeling fell by the wayside. He felt utterly numb and confused. The weight of that information had shocked him out of any kind of logical reaction. "My brother's alive." He said quietly, his whole body physically dropping. This was not the happy reaction that Tantomile had expected.

"This is good news, Pounce." Tantomile whispered as she reached out to stroke the tom's cheek, gently nuzzling her soft paw through his fur. "You get to see him again. You told me how much you wished you could see him again." She was trying to take care with her words just as Coricopat had, but this was killing her inside. The guilt of not telling Pouncival sooner was weighing heavily on her shoulders, especially now that he was reacting so unexpectedly.

"He's dead." Pouncival looked between both Tantomile and Coricopat as he spoke, shaking his head slightly. "He died. Macavity took him away from me and killed him, you told me that over and over and I finally got to a point where I thought I could be okay and say goodbye to him and now you're saying he's okay? What am I meant to do with this? How do you want me to react?" He was not angry, but not calm either. His voice cracked slightly, signaling the tears that began to form in his eyes.

"Actually, Pounce... he is not okay. He is hurt terribly." Coricopat stated with that same stoic tone he used before. The tom moved slightly closer to Pouncival as well, narrowing the distance between them to nothing so he could offer a hug if the tom wanted it. "Macavity may have returned him to us, but we do not know if he will ever wake."

Those words were not comforting at all. Coricopat very quickly regretted them – holding conversations without the ability to read minds was proving a burden for him, as Tantomile's collar continued to block any magic usage from either of them. Pouncival reacted negatively to Coricopat's words, pulling away from both cats in the room with him and taking a few short, sharp breaths.

"I don't like this." Pouncival said simply as his breathing increased and he began hyperventilating. "I really don't like this not one bit why did you tell me this? Why would you make me live this through again it took me two fucking years to get over losing him why would you make me-"

Pouncival collapsed onto his back suddenly, causing both twins to dash over to his side. He had quite obviously fainted, which could not have been too much of a surprise to either of them. They resolved to get him comfortable and try to deal with this a lot better when he woke up. After all, he would deal with it better when he actually _saw _Tumblebrutus.

Tantomile could not really be blamed for telling Pouncival the truth, in fact it was perhaps more of a surprise that she had not told him sooner. The fact remained that neither of the twins were there when Macavity murdered Pouncival's parents. For a long time, Pouncival believed himself to be the only one to get out of there alive, though it was now clear that Tumblebrutus somehow managed to cling onto life as well, despite being abducted by Macavity.

On the night that the Hidden Paw attacked, there were only four cats in Pouncival's parents' den. Two of them lost their lives, one of them lost his home and the other lost his mind.

It was two years previous.

Pouncival and Tantomile, by this point, had been together for three years. In two nights it would be the Jellicle Ball, a celebration that would have special meaning for them specifically, as they had agreed it would be the first night they would spend together intimately. Tantomile had asked Pouncival to be her 'mate' around six months earlier, and they had been next to inseperable since then. They had found a den that they could keep together, though neither had quite managed to leave their families yet. Tantomile still found herself spending most evenings with Coricopat, whilst Pouncival spent most evenings with Tumblebrutus.

On this night, that would prove to be the catalyst for a terrible event.

Pouncival and Tumblebrutus were being responsible.

Both cats were now in their early twenties (if they were to be believed), so it was important for both of them that they showed some usefulness to the wider tribe. In this case, they were being responsible by assisting Jennyanydots in her makeshift 'infirmary'. It was not much other than a den filled with nice soft beds, where she could care for anyone who had hurt themselves whilst playing. The cats in the tribe generally only hurt themselves in play, there were few injuries to speak of at most times.

On this particular day there had been a few minor scraps, after Jemima and Etcetera got into a fight. They never got on with one another. At one point Pouncival and Tumblebrutus were literally holding the queens apart whilst Jennyanydots ordered them to kiss and make up. It took some convincing, but they finally settled down and glared at one another. After they left, Pouncival joked with Tumblebrutus that a few years earlier he would have killed for a chance to hug Etcetera. Now he could not even see what he saw in her back then.

And so the day continued as both Pouncival and Tumblebrutus had offered to help. Though it may be fairer to say that they were _told _to help by their father, Skimbleshanks.

Yes, Skimbleshanks was their father. Their family history was a confusing one, but it would be largely accurate to say that their biological mother died in childbirth, though her name would not be familiar to you. The loss of her had made Skimbleshanks' life almost impossible when he suddenly had two kittens to care for, all alongside his business with the Midnight Mail. As they grew older, he leaned heavily on the support of the tribe to help care for them, but fortunately for The Railway Cat, his popularity was such that this was never an issue. The older cats were happy to help.

It was through his reliance on other members of the tribe that Skimbleshanks found himself spending an inordinate amount of time with some of the stronger maternal figures in the tribe. As the years rolled by, he was able to get over the loss of his first mate and begin looking for a relationship once more – though he regularly feared that such a relationship would upset either Pouncival or Tumblebrutus, so he resigned to not admit to them any such situation until they had grown old enough to leave the den.

The secret he had been keeping from them was a simple one. When they were ten-years-old, Skimbleshanks began a relationship with Jennyanydots. They had both kept it quiet to go along with Skimbleshanks' wishes not to disturb his kittens, but they knew this plan could not continue forever. In fact, it came to a screeching halt when a fifteen-year-old Pouncival checked out Jennyanydots after he had fallen from his chair. This utterly 'freaked her out' (as she had told Skimbleshanks), because she had developed strong motherly feelings towards both of Skimbleshanks' kittens.

So that was that. Skimbleshanks revealed to Pouncival and Tumblebrutus on that very evening that he had been seeing Jennyanydots for a number of years, and wanted to know what they thought. Both toms did not seem to mind, though neither treated her any differently. She was merely the queen that their father was dating... then dating often... then living with... until finally, officially mated to. They called her 'Jenny'. She rather liked that.

There had been only one occasion where this delicate balance had been broken. A play-fight between Pouncival and Tumblebrutus had led to an accidental fist being thrown, and it descended into a genuine fist-fight. In amongst all the drama that left both toms with a black-eye, Jennyanydots had broken them up and begged them not to be so rough with one another, to which Pouncival replied (in the heat of the moment): "You're not my fucking mother, y'know!"

He had regretted his words shortly after saying them, and Tumblebrutus had gasped at them as well. Both cats calmed down very quickly after that, as an expected shouting match did not happen. Jennyanydots simply left the pair alone, only to be found an hour later, softly crying alone in her room. Skimbleshanks had comforted her, then told both of his sons individually how their words had affected her. Both apologised soon after and Pouncival told her that he did not mean it, but it was a wound that never quite healed over, a fact that would never become untrue. Pouncival would never stop regretting those words.

On the day that Pouncival and Tumblebrutus were helping Jennyanydots in the infirmary, Skimbleshanks had been mated to her for over two years. The relationship had brought a new vigor and guile to both cats that had been decidedly missing for a long time, and neither could be happier.

Of course, as previously explained, this is not a story with a happy ending. How I wish I could tell you that the story ended here, with all the cats involved living a wonderful carefree life together. That no more hardships or difficulties would ever befall any of them.

But you have already worked out that this is the story of the night that Macavity killed Pouncival's parents. You have already worked out that this is the story of the night that Macavity murdered Skimbleshanks and Jennyanydots, of the night that he tortured Tumblebrutus and kitnapped him away, of the night that drove Pouncival to the brink of insanity. A night so torturous that it took Pouncival two years to get over his pain and anguish.

It was evening.

The day had not been difficult. The scrap between Jemima and Etcetera was no doubt the primary source of excitement, but otherwise it had largely been about helping Jennyanydots apply gauze or bandages. She liked the help, even if it was primarily because it gave her cats to talk to outside of Jellylorum, who was a regular visitor. Besides that, she had been caring for Pouncival and Tumblebrutus since the pair were kittens, more or less, and had grown to enjoy their company quite wonderfully.

The three cats in question had returned back to Skimbleshanks' den. The Railway Cat could be found in the sitting-room, scribbling some notes on a piece of paper. When asked, he simply said it was new words he was thinking of for his song. All of the cats easily became settled, chatting carelessly about various nothings as the evening began to drift on. It was quite late by the time that Pouncival realised it was probably _too late _for him to visit Tantomile, so he simply resigned to not go at all on that day and see her tomorrow.

"It's funny, Pounce." Skimbleshanks started as he turned to his son, all four of them sat lazily around a small fire. "If you'd asked me which of my sons would get mated first, I never would have said it'd be you!" He laughed in a broad Scottish accent. It was a joke he regularly made, which most everyone found funny.

"I told you Dad, I'm seeing someone right now, too..." Tumblebrutus said sharply, folding his arms with a childish pout on his face. "Someone awesome. He likes backflips too." He dropped the facial expression and shifted closer to the fireplace, breathing a happy sigh.

"Oh my god Tumble do a backflip seriously do a backflip right now that would be so awesome!" Pouncival clapped his paws together excitedly. He joined his brother by moving slightly closer to the fire as well, chirpily breathing in the warmth and feeling a wave of relaxation washing over him.

"Now, now. Don't you both think it is a little late for those shenanigans?" Jennyanydots said simply as she sat beside her mate, looking between both of his sons with a bemused expression. "There will be time for plenty of backflips tomorrow, I am sure. Unless either of you were thinking of volunteering to help me out again? I could always use the extra paws..."

Both tried to protest before Skimbleshanks intervened. "Perhaps we should let them be kittens for a little while longer..." He said with a smile as the brothers breathed a sigh of relief. "I should say though Pounce, going back to what I was saying there, your wee girlfriend is a lovely lass. I never thought I'd see you so giddy all the time-"

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that." A deep voice echoed from the other side of the room. In true theatrics, a cold gust of wind burst throughout the den and snuffed out the fire, leaving all of the cats with a moment of blindness as their eyes adjusted to the darkness. That moment was enough. That small window of opportunity, that tiny few seconds was enough.

When Jennyanydots' eyes adjusted and she found herself able to see in the dark again, the sight that she was met with made her almost scream. Yet she did not – stopped in her tracks by another set of words that came from the cat standing in front of her.

Macavity was there.

The ginger tom stood perhaps a foot taller than any of the cats in the den, his bright red fur dirtied by stains of deep blood. Blood from where exactly was not clear; it seemed likely that he had attacked someone else that night. His face seemed somehow more scarred than before, adding to his utterly out-of-it expression. Macavity was high as a kite, and it showed on his face. No doubt he had been using catnip and recently taken another hit. None of the cats had a chance to question why he was there, to ask what he wanted, because of the words he spoke.

"If you would like your son to live, I highly suggest that none of you make even the slightest sound." Macavity spoke with a drawl, a slur attached to his words that only further proved that drugs had taken him to this point. His words were backed up by a single, terrible thing – in the confusion of eyes adjusting to darkness, he had darted across the room from his hiding place and grabbed Pouncival. Macavity was now holding Pouncival with one paw tightly around the back of his neck, immobilising him. His other paw was tight to the front of his neck, a set of claws dangerously close to piercing his throat.

But that did not stop Tumblebrutus. Seeing his opportunity, he tried to dart at Macavity and take a swipe at him – though unfortunately for the small tom Macavity saw this coming. The ginger monster easily stepped away from Tumblebrutus' attempted attack and pierced his claws brutally into Pouncival's throat. "All of you, stop." Macavity said simply as he held Pouncival aloft, showing that his claws were halfway-embedded in the tom's neck. The piercings were small for now, though Macavity's next words proved crucial: "If I move my claws an inch to the left, his jugular vein is cut and he dies."

Tumblebrutus and Skimbleshanks immediately glanced at Jennyanydots, who sadly nodded and looked at the ground. Macavity was in control, they all knew that now. A wrong move would be enough for him to murder Pouncival, which none of them would be able to bear the burden of. "One more move without my permission, one more action without my consent, and he dies." Macavity reiterated, backing away slightly to create some distance. Pouncival remained awake and alert, fully taking in everything that was happening, but completely unable to move or speak. He was helpless.

"Now then." Macavity glared at all of the cats in the room before looking up at Jennyanydots. "I have consumed too much catnip." He said simply, the glazed-over look on his eyes proving even more evidence of this. "Far too much. My heartbeat is too fast, it has been for too long. I need you to give me something to counterbalance it or else I could OD." His reason for being there was apparently quite simple, then.

Jennyanydots grimaced. "What makes you think I would do anything to help you?" She began, though Macavity simply raised an eyebrow and lifted Pouncival slightly. "Tough question." Macavity let out a low growl as he pressed his claws deeply into the tom's throat, fully embedding them in his neck and earning a few small streaks of blood that slid through his fur. "Any more stupid questions?"

Skimbleshanks motioned for Tumblebrutus and Jennyanydots to come closer to him and slowly took both cats' paws in his own. "We'll help you." He said calmly, though his heart was racing as well with a kind of terrified panic. "Just... just please don't hurt my son." Macavity responded well to that, nodding with a satisfied smirk.

Jennyanydots drew a few breaths before glancing at the door behind her. "I need supplies from the infirmary." She said simply, looking up at Macavity. "I do not have anything here that can help you. You need something to calm you down, and there is nothing in Skimbleshanks' den that will do that."

Macavity thought about that for a moment before turning at Pouncival. He stared at the tom briefly before spitting in his face. "I will kill this tom in the next five minutes unless you find something in this room that will slow down my heartbeat." He said simply, turning back to look at Jennyanydots. Clearly he was not in the mood for any games.

Tumblebrutus was next to speak. "Can we make a deal?" He said quietly, trying to pretend to be completely calm like Macavity had demanded. "How about you let my brother go and hurt me, instead?" He took a couple of steps closer, offering his paws forward. "Just take me. Let Pounce go and take me, I promise I'm far more interesting-"

"Shut up!" Macavity roared, leaning forward suddenly to bite into Pouncival's ear. His fangs pierced a set of holes through the soft cartilage, leaving only pain and a new set of piercings as he released his bite. "I know what you are doing. You all think that you can stall me, that I am some kind of idiot. Well, I assure you, I am not. Four minutes left, Jennyanydots. They say you are a great healer of some kind, that you are the greatest in London. The fact that you are a Jellicle is irrelevant here. Heal me and I will release your son, I promise you that."

Jennyanydots took a step forward of her own and grabbed Tumblebrutus' arm, pulling him back. "If I save you from your own overdose, you will release my son? You will not physically harm him in any way?" She said calmly, glaring directly into Macavity's fierce eyes. The fear in that room was so great that nobody noticed Jennyanydots referring to Pouncival as her 'son'. Nobody except Pouncival, who was the most scared of all of them. The pain of Macavity's claws in his neck had gotten so great that a few tears had begun to roll down his cheeks, which only made his family more passionate.

"I promise." Macavity said with a low hiss. No sooner had the words left his mouth than Jennyanydots moved across the room, walking quickly towards a small dresser. She pulled a box from inside, opening it to reveal a tiny horde of medical equipment. After a moment of rifling she pulled out a tiny bottle, taking it in her paw before walking back across the room and toward Macavity. "Here." She said simply, holding it out to him. "There is a liquid in here. Drink it, you will vomit. Then rest for a while and you will be fine. Now let him go."

Macavity stood still as he considered her words carefully. "I don't believe you." He concluded, glancing at Tumblebrutus. "He wants to be a hero. If you are telling me the truth, test it on him."

Tumblebrutus immediately nodded, moving over to Jennyanydots and offering to take the bottle. She froze, completely unsure what to do. Macavity would have completely called her bluff, except she had not even tried to trick him. The substance she was holding really would make the cat who took it vomit, it was just so violent that she did not want to subject Tumblebrutus to it. She glanced up to Macavity to speak, but the ginger tom only looked enraged as though she had lied to him. He lifted Pouncival again, threatening to cut him once more, which only made Jennyanydots resigned to it. She opened the bottle and took a sharp swig of it, moving so suddenly that nobody had a chance to intervene. "There." She said simply, slamming the bottle down on the side. "Only enough left for one more cat."

Macavity was surprised. He had not expected such an act. Part of him wanted to punish her for going against his demands, but the other part was quite impressed that she would act so brazenly. "I do not want to put too much pressure on you, but unless you start throwing up in the next minute I am going to slice this tom's throat clean open, then do the same to the other one. Is that really what you want?"

Jennyanydots was trying to stay strong against his words. Skimbleshanks approached her carefully, holding a small bucket. She glanced at him sadly, trying not to look him in the eye as she took the item from him. This was beyond humiliating, but worse than all of that, one wrong move and everything could become much, much worse. Mercifully she felt the liquid quickly take effect, and it did not take very long at all for her to drop to her knees as she threw up into the bucket. Skimbleshanks was quickly by her side, one paw on her back, the other holding her hair back. The substance in that bottle was vicious.

Tumblebrutus reached over and grabbed the bottle, looking up at Macavity and fixing his gaze on the ginger tom before walking across to him once more. "Here, take this and leave us alone." He said with a low growl, holding out the bottle for Macavity to receive. "Let my brother go now. You promised." The sound of Jennyanydots throwing up only upset him, but he was trying to keep calm for his brother. Get him safe from Macavity – that was the main thing. Get him safe, then worry about helping everyone else.

"Fine." Macavity pulled his claws from Pouncival's throat and grabbed the bottle from Tumblebrutus' outstretched paw. He held the bottle firmly and glared at Pouncival once more before turning his gaze to Jennyanydots. "You have been most helpful." Macavity said with a broad smile as he pulled Pouncival closer, kissed the tom on the side of the head and took a step towards the door.

"Let him go!" Tumblebrutus shouted suddenly, which caused everyone in the room to freeze. Too loud. He did not care. "You promised us! You promised that you would let him go! For fuck's sake, if you have to take someone, take me! I've got nothing but my family, he's got a mate and everything! You can't do this to him, you can't do this to us or Tantomile-"

"Tantomile." Macavity said suddenly, his anger dissipating as he glared at Tumblebrutus. "You said 'Tantomile'. Who is 'Tantomile' to you, other than a cat in this Junkyard? What are you implying?" That seemed to be a sore-spot for whatever reason. At the very least, it kept him standing in the room, when it appeared only a moment earlier that he was considering taking Pouncival with him.

"His mate." Tumblebrutus said simply. "Pouncival and Tantomile are mated, you can't- No!"

He stopped talking suddenly.

Macavity had thrown Pouncival into the wall, the tom connecting with an awful thud. He hit the surface with his back first, dropping to the floor with another terrible sound. Macavity stepped forward and moved towards Tumblebrutus, his claws unsheathed, but Skimbleshanks jumped to his feet and swung a fierce right hook at Macavity, connecting with his face. This caused the ginger tom to stumble.

"Get out of here!" Skimbleshanks yelled, letting out a loud and fierce hiss to couple his yells. These loud sounds would no doubt attract attention now, which sent a horde of messages rocketing around Macavity's drug-addled mind. For one thing, he had limited time. Other Jellicles would be here in less than a minute, with a protector like Munkustrap or Alonzo slightly sooner than that. He had only moments to overpower these cats and act out his vengeance.

Had this been planned? No. Macavity had taken too much catnip and needed a way to purge his system. He was still holding the bottle that provided the answer to that. But Tumblebrutus had inadvertently revealed to Macavity that Pouncival was mated to Tantomile – and as we now know, Macavity had been struggling with his own attraction towards her. The concept that she loved someone else put him into a rage beyond anger that could only be properly expressed in one way – fire.

Macavity placed the bottle on a table and turned to throw balls of fire into the doors, catching them alight in moments. Though he was high, he was relatively well-rested, allowing him full use of his powers. He used them instinctively, his eyes flashing as he swung the back of his paw at Skimbleshanks, dropping him to the floor with a brutal slash. He jumped at Tumblebrutus, dodging the tom's attack and throwing him at his brother, crashing into him with another awful sound. Yet both brothers were conscious and were able to look over as Macavity stepped towards a helpless Jennyanydots.

"Fuck you, bitch." Macavity growled as he grabbed the queen by her hair. She had been so debilitated by that foul liquid, she was completely incapacitated. Macavity gave her no chance to speak as he dragged her towards Pouncival and Tumblebrutus. Skimbleshanks managed to make it to his feet and made a run at him, but Macavity simply threw a fireball at the ground, blocking off his run with a sudden explosion of flame that once again knocked him to the floor. In this state Macavity was truly powerful, without Munkustrap here there would be no hope for any of these cats.

Jennyanydots was the least fortunate of all. Macavity glared directly into Pouncival's eyes as he brought his claws to the queen's throat. "Say bye-bye to Mummy." He said with a snarl before ruthlessly slashing across her neck, slicing multiple claws through her jugular vein and sending blood soaring down her fur. He dropped her lifeless body to the floor, which Pouncival quickly ran to.

"Mummy..." Pouncival said quietly, trying to grab her head and look into her eyes. Tumblebrutus made an attack on Macavity again, but once more the ginger tom easily fought back and knocked him to the floor. Pouncival yelled and pressed a paw against his own forehead, finding himself completely unable to react. He tried to snap out of it and began shaking Jennyanydots as though he could possibly wake her up, a sight that only made Macavity laugh.

It is debatable just how long a person remains conscious before they die, let alone a cat. It is obviously next to impossible to tell. The cause of death from a slit jugular vein is a lack of blood to the brain, though the body itself remains functional for up to fifteen minutes before death finally takes its toll. Exactly when the mind is lost is unknown. Whatever the case, it did not stop Pouncival from speaking to her. "I love you Mummy and I'm so sorry I never called you that but you were the best Mummy a cat could ever have and I'm so so sorry I didn't tell you I love you every day because-"

"Shut the fuck up." Macavity growled as he kicked Pouncival in the back of the head, causing the tom to drop to the floor. Skimbleshanks was back to his feet and made another run at Macavity, yelling in anger as he dove at the ginger tom. Macavity could not dodge this attack and took a series of claws to the chest and face, being held off long enough for the door to be hammered on. He had very little time now. Next to no time to do the damage he wanted to inflict.

He kicked Skimbleshanks fiercely in the gut and dropped him with a vicious elbow to the back of the head. Macavity was taller than any of these cats, far more muscular and imbued with his magic, let alone the fact that he was physically in the prime of his life. None of them could stop him. Tumblebrutus aimed to make yet another attack, which simply angered Macavity. He slashed terribly across the tom's gut, causing him to bend over, and kicked the back of his knees to drop him to the ground as well. The cats outside began to yell, reacting to the sounds from inside. Pouncival let out a sudden scream that only confirmed what was going on inside, and the cats outside began to desperately break down the door.

Macavity had only moments.

With Tumblebrutus facing the ground, Macavity stomped brutally on the back of his ankle. The sudden slam against the back of Tumblebrutus' heel snapped his ankle in two, shattering the bone in a single, vicious movement. He watched as Tumblebrutus writhed in agony, picking his moment to jump and stomp on the tom's other foot, doing exactly the same thing. It took a couple more stamps before he was greeted with that same satisfying 'snap', as well as the agonising screams that came with it.

Skimbleshanks made it to his feet again, one paw on the back of his bloodied head as he dove at Macavity, trying desperately to save his son.

But this, ultimately, was what Macavity wanted.

He expected Skimbleshanks' attack. After a swift dodge he was able to grab Skimbleshanks, connecting with another fist to the face before throwing him across the room, towards Pouncival. His father slammed against the floor with a terrible sound, another awful snapping accompanying it as his shoulder broke on impact. But there was another sound, too.

The door was broken open, swinging wide as Munkustrap and Alonzo stormed into the room – yet no sooner had they entered the room than they left it, as Macavity threw a group of fireballs at the ground in front of them. His flames exploded on impact, spreading wide to completely block off that side of the house. In fact, the fire joined the other flames that had been burning before, creating a wall of fire that made any kind of entrance or exit impossible. The flames reached the roof as the room was close to collapsing in on itself. Macavity knew of the other entrance to the den and expected the Jellicles to use it, giving him only moments to continue his sick vengeance.

Macavity stepped towards Skimbleshanks and dropped to the ground, lifting the tom into his lap. Skimbleshanks was in agony, yet tried to slash Macavity's chest. He managed it, but at this point the ginger tom seemed unable to feel any kind of pain. Perhaps it was the drugs, perhaps it was the adrenaline. Perhaps it was simply to further ingrain these deliberate nightmares into Pouncival's head.

"Look up, Pounce." Macavity said with a cruel smirk as he used the tom's nickname. "Watch Daddy die now." Skimbleshanks tried to resist, but found himself unable to. Macavity snapped the tom's other arm with a sudden twist and jammed his claws into his gut. Pouncival was frozen to the spot like a deer in headlights, believing his own weakness to be keeping him still – when in truth it was Macavity's magic. He was able to fix the tom to the spot, immobilising him completely. Though it drained his powers, he was focused on making Pouncival watch this. On enacting his vengeance, on ruining his life. On teaching him a lesson for being mated to Tantomile. If he couldn't have her, nobody was allowed her.

Macavity slashed open Skimbleshanks' gut with an awful set of swipes that ingrained in Pouncival's mind. He could only watch each slice and slash and cry as they got worse and worse until Skimbleshanks moved no more. Satisfied in his kill, Macavity lifted his paw to slice across the tom's throat as well, ensuring that he was truly dead. The ginger tom looked to his right to see the other door weakening under the attempts to break it down and took his opportunity.

Pouncival had to live. He had to live with this and lose his mind. If Pouncival went crazy, Tantomile would suffer as well, she would suffer worse than if he simply killed her mate. Macavity wanted to crush her spirit, to beat her into a pulp. Then he would return, he told himself then and there that in two years' time he would return to take her for his own. That was his plan. If there can be any solace from this terrible event, it would be that we at least now know his plan to have failed.

He threw Skimbleshanks' unmoving body to the floor and jumped to his feet, sliding across the room to grab the scruff of Tumblebrutus' neck in his jaw. The tom became limp in his hold, his haunting screams finally silenced as the tears that ran from his eyes only proved his agony. Holding Tumblebrutus in his teeth, Macavity darted forwards and grabbed the bottle of liquid before looking over. The door was kicked down.

Macavity looked at the flames blocking his path and laughed to himself. He thanked the heavens that he was so high, as that would make this far easier. Whatever happened, this was going to hurt like hell and probably burn off much of his fur. But... no, this was not quite over.

Seeing that Alonzo was first in the room, Macavity knew he only had seconds left. He reached to the floor and grabbed the one last thing he could use to traumatise Pouncival – the bucket. In a single movement he threw the bucket's contents over Pouncival and turned to dive through the horde of flames and towards that blocked-off exit with Tumblebrutus en tow. Alonzo was immediately across the room but stopped short of following him. Mistoffelees was there only a second later and looked at the flames, trying to use his magic to extinguish them. It only took a few moments but he found his magic working again and made short work of the fire, but of course, that was of no help. As if his magic was working again, that only meant one thing...

Macavity's not there.

The ginger cat had escaped with Tumblebrutus. Why he had decided to kidnap the young tom rather than murder him as well was unclear, perhaps he simply felt he did not have time to kill him. Perhaps he felt breaking his ankles in front of Pouncival would do more damage than simply murdering him, as it inferred that he would harm him even worse later on.

It did not matter. Munkustrap grabbed Pouncival's arm and tried to pull him away, the tom finally able to move and no longer under the influence of Macavity's magic. It was perhaps no surprise that he did not move, instead remaining completely still, doing nothing other than crying as he looked at the dead bodies of his parents. The final insult with the bucket that resulted in the vomit that now covered his fur did not phase him, the smell was horrendous but if anything it did something to block out the smell of blood. The putrid smell of death.

Munkustrap pulled harder but Pouncival did not move, forcing the silver tom to grab him by the waist and lift him up, which finally brought a reaction from him.

"Let me go!" Pouncival yelled as he kicked at Munkustrap, his sudden squirming catching him off-guard, though he did not release him. Instead he simply carried him outside, desperate to get him away from this room. There was blood covering the floor. The sight was too terrible to even consider right now, the repercussions would be realised later. Right now there was a traumatised cat who needed to be protected.

Pouncival continued to yell and fight, but once they made it outside he stopped squirming so terribly. Munkustrap did not place him down outside the den, instead continuing on for a short while. Mistoffelees followed close behind, leaving Alonzo, Tugger and Plato to deal with the den for now. Tugger stood in that den for a while, trying to understand why Macavity had done this. This kind of thing had never happened before, it was so shocking to think that it could even possibly happen to his tribe. Macavity had tried to kidnap cats from the tribe before, he had even been successful on terrible occasions. But this had never happened. No murders. No killing. No death.

Munkustrap pushed through the door into his own den, entering quickly and walking into the back room. By this point Pouncival had stopped squirming altogether and was now more or less lying in Munkustrap's arms. It had been around a minute since he had been taken out of that room. The back room of Munkustrap's den had a basin and bath in it, which Munkustrap leaned towards before placing Pouncival softly inside. "It's going to be okay." He said quietly, although he did not truly know how that could possibly be true.

Mistoffelees all the while stood in the background, looking to see if there was anything he could possibly do to help. This all seemed so impossible, there was no way it could be what it seemed. What he saw in that den made him feel sick, those smells had permeated his system and he could not rid himself of them. He simply could not imagine what Pouncival was thinking right now. It must have been terrible.

"We have to clean you." Munkustrap said simply as he lifted a bucket of water and poured it over Pouncival's head, the shock making him gasp and shiver. He repeated the process, completely soaking him through and ridding him of the blood and vomit that had stuck to his fur. "Come on." Munkustrap continued so simply, as though nothing was wrong, reaching forward and lifting Pouncival out of the tub. That could be cleaned later.

He produced a towel and began to dry Pouncival's fur, starting with his face and working along his body. Munkustrap had reasoned that if the tom was to have any chance of getting over this, the first thing he needed to do was get him cleaned up and wash away the evidence that any of this had even happened. He continued to towel-dry him, working down his body and doing a reasonable job at drying the fur. Pouncival shivered as Munkustrap tossed the towel to the side, taking only a moment before trying to hug him – but Pouncival flinched away as his lip quaked.

"Okay." Munkustrap said softly. "That's okay." He grabbed Pouncival's arm and took him back into the main room, the tom clearly not happy about being touched but right now unable to do anything about it. Everything was just sort of happening, he was not understanding any of it. Munkustrap took Pouncival to the centre of the room and sat him down on a comfortable set of cushions. "You are going to be okay, Pouncival." Munkustrap reiterated as he released the tom's arm. "How about I light a fire and we can-"

He was cut short by Pouncival letting out a loud whimper and squeal. The small tom tried to back away before collapsing onto the cushion and cowering, shivering against it with his still-damp fur. Munkustrap looked up at Mistoffelees as he berated himself for suggesting such an obviously stupid thing, considering the amount of flames that had been surrounding that den. This would not do.

Mistoffelees stepped closer and knelt down beside the pillow, looking directly at Pouncival. At least he was clean now. "Here..." Mistoffelees spoke as he lifted a blanket from another cushion and spread it over Pouncival, giving the tom some kind of warmth. "It'll be okay, Pounce. I promise it'll be okay..." He trailed off slightly. Everyone was telling Pouncival that things would be fine, but how could they be? How could anything possibly be fine after this? Mistoffelees reasoned that if Pouncival was to ever be okay again, he would need people around him that cared.

He would need Tantomile.

The thought registered with Mistoffelees and he questioned how he had not realised sooner. He closed his eyes and called to her, sending her a psychic message that things were not well here, that Pouncival was in great trouble and needed her now more than ever. Knowing that she would react to this immediately and come running, he decided to offer Pouncival something, anything, by way of help.

"Pounce." Mistoffelees said as he reached out to touch the tom, but he flinched away. "I can't imagine... you must... I know you can hear me right now. So please, just... just know that whatever happens, you can always ask and I'll help you, okay? Whatever happens from now until eternity, I'll help you if you need me, okay?"

Munkustrap nodded at Mistoffelees, showing him a form of respect for such an important statement. Pouncival needed to know that he had friends here. "As will I." Munkustrap said simply as he turned back to look at Pouncival. "I will do whatever I can to help you. I... I wish I had gotten there faster, I..." He trailed off and looked away. Things were starting to hit him, the deaths of Jennyanydots and Skimbleshanks were starting to register.

The door was still wide open. Tantomile and Coricopat slowly entered. They were holding paws very, very tightly, Tantomile clearly moments away from crying. The twins carefully entered the room with some extraordinary trepidation, Tantomile clearly terrified for what she might see. She glanced at Mistoffelees, who closed his eyes again to give her another psychic message, which burst into her mind and tore her heart apart. It read:

_Skimble and Jenny are dead. Tumble has been kitnapped. Macavity has done this._

Nothing else was needed. Those words made Tantomile burst into a loud, audible cry. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she stormed across the room to where Pouncival lay motionless, falling down to her knees and reaching out to grab him. This time he did not protest. In fact, this time, Pouncival moved to his own knees and practically dove at her, burying his head into her shoulder and sobbing loudly. In amongst that moment of agony, Pouncival managed to speak the only real words that had left his mouth since all of this happened:

"They're dead... he killed my Mummy and Daddy and he took Tumble... for fuck's sake Tants what am I going to do?"

The silence that followed was telling. It was only broken by the loud sobs that poured from Pouncival's throat before they hugged tightly and cried, the pain of losing those loved ones finally surfacing in a visible way. Tantomile could not believe that this family that had taken her in like one of their own were gone just like that, it was not fair. But she reasoned that her own suffering at losing these wonderful, incredible cats was nothing compared to what Pouncival must have been feeling. So they cried – they cried until neither could cry anymore.

It would take Pouncival two woeful years for him to get over the deaths of his parents and brother.

Yet, as we now know, Tumblebrutus was not dead. Injured, yes. He was wounded terribly, he had clearly been physically abused and tortured for a long, long time. But he was now safe in the Junkyard, being cared for by Jellylorum, who took over Jennyanydots' duties after she passed away.

Two years after those harrowing events, upstairs from where Pouncival and Tantomile cried together on that terrible night, Pouncival woke up.

He had fainted from a kind of information overload after Tantomile told him that his brother was, in fact, alive. Maybe not awake, but alive nonetheless. As Pouncival woke he rubbed his head gently, blinking to find tears in his eyes. "I'm crying." He said simply, looking up at Tantomile and Coricopat.

"I'm sorry." Tantomile said softly, reaching forward to hug him tightly. "This is a long road. You'll get there." She calmly looked over to Coricopat, who nodded and got to his feet. Tantomile placed her paws squarely on Pouncival's shoulders, about to speak before he interrupted her.

"I had a nightmare." Pouncival reiterated. He looked over to see Mistoffelees also standing in the room, which took him by surprise. Moreover, the room itself was wrong. Things were in different places, there was bright light – it took him a little while to realise that not only was this a different room, but it was dawn. Mistoffelees looked thoughtful and muttered something to himself as Pouncival spoke, his eyes widening suddenly as if he had a physical realisation of something. He looked at Pouncival curiously, keeping completely quiet.

"Focus, Pounce." Tantomile spoke as she forced him to turn his attention to her. "You see behind me there's a bed?" She asked simply, though of course Pouncival could see the fixture. There appeared to be someone on top of it, though from his position on the floor he could not be certain. As it turned out, there was. "Tumblebrutus is on that bed." Tantomile spoke calmly and stroked her mate's cheek softly. "I love you." She said quietly, almost to herself. She was not surprised to see what happened next, simply grateful that Pouncival reacted as she had hoped.

Pouncival got to his feet. He let go of Tantomile and moved slowly past her, approaching the bed across the room. After only a few moments he was standing beside it and looking at the tom occupying it. "Oh fuck, Tumble..." He said sharply, his voice cracking as he began to cry. Coricopat immediately offered some support, following briskly by Tantomile. Both twins held Pouncival as he looked at his brother and cried.

"I can't believe you're alive." Pouncival spoke through his tears. "But you're so hurt, what has he done to you? Your fur... oh your ankles, oh Christ I remember that sound..." He trailed off, clenching his eyes shut and trying to forget that noise, that pained howl Tumblebrutus had made. Pouncival only opened his eyes to look at his brother's face, though what he saw offered one shred of hope. It was a strange thing to cling to, but nonetheless it was what struck him as important.

"Your whiskers." Pouncival spoke softly as he reached to his brother's face. "You have no whiskers... like me." He stroked the marks where Tumblebrutus' whiskers had once been, the wounds were clean and fresh, very recent. As all of the cats in that room knew, Pouncival had ripped out his own whiskers a while ago in a bout of self-harm resulting from his trauma. But this somehow eased the pain of seeing his brother, it was something that they had in common, even throughout all of this. No matter what wounds his brother had, the fact that they both shared something again gave him hope.

"I can get better." Pouncival said with a resolute tone, looking at Tantomile and Coricopat. "I know I had a nightmare just then and woke up crying again but I promise I can get better, I have to get better for him." He looked over at Tumblebrutus again and nodded his head. "He needs me. He had to deal with everything like me, but he didn't have either of you to help him.

"Gods... please let him wake up..."


	10. No More Voices

**Disclaimer: **This chapter contains coarse language.

* * *

But, of course, Tumblebrutus would not wake up.

As the day wore on, Pouncival would find a comfortable place to sit in the room, kept company by Tantomile and Coricopat. The twins watched over him like a hawk, making sure that his seeing Tumblebrutus alive would be the catalyst for something good, rather than something potentially terrible. There was a great risk inherent in this moment, though Pouncival's choice words about wanting to help Tumblebrutus get better remained the theme of their occasional conversations. For the most part of the day, all three cats were rather caught up in their own thoughts.

Perhaps some context was in order.

Pouncival had fainted late the previous night, woken up for an incredibly brief moment and fallen back asleep. Coricopat had carried him into Tumblebrutus' room whilst the tom slept, allowing him to wake up and see his brother almost immediately. That plan had worked well. He had woken up around dawn, being roused by the sunlight that poured into the room. Pouncival had slept for almost ten hours, though it was true that he woke up to find himself crying after a terrible **nightmare**.

It was this **nightmare** that kept resounding in Mistoffelees' mind, as though he was missing something. He felt like a realisation hit him for a fleeting moment, though it left him only a second later. Now he felt like he was on the edge of something important, some very key meaning that he had simply failed to comprehend before. He had left the room and returned to his own den, trying to focus on what was bothering him.

It was about Pouncival, of that Mistoffelees was certain. Something about the way the tom showed such surprise that he was crying. Whilst Pouncival had been asleep that night, Tantomile had come to visit Mistoffelees. They had shared a brief conversation, but ultimately she merely invited him to come and watch Pouncival see Tumblebrutus for the first time – after all, it was Mistoffelees who was responsible for rescuing him from Macavity.

She had found Mistoffelees returning to his den very early in the morning. The small tom promised to tell her exactly what he had been doing later, and she agreed to come see him again for that purpose. In a way it was quite exciting for her, as it marked the first time in two years that she would be able to leave Pouncival with Coricopat without feeling guilty. They had spoken about it on and off all day, and though Pouncival initially protested that he was unhappy to see her go, he ultimately conceded that Coricopat "wasn't all that bad" and that he'd "just have to make do with him, even though he doesn't give as many good kisses as you". His light-hearted comments made Tantomile confident that Pouncival would be alright without her, even if she was slightly worried that Coricopat might bite him.

And so she left.

"I'm really glad you came." Mistoffelees said with a half-smile as he opened his door for Tantomile, allowing her to enter his den. "It's been a hard couple of days..." He started, leading her through into the main room and offering her to sit on a cushion by the fire. "You're looking well, though! I mean, at least, you're walking well..."

"Thanks." Tantomile said simply as she took him up on his offer. She enjoyed sitting beside fires, though it was rare that she could find the opportunity nowadays. Pouncival had been petrified of fires and fireplaces since Macavity attacked his family, though he had never quite managed to tell her why. "I'm walking okay if there's a wall to lean on. The fact that your den is literally beside Munkustrap's makes this a hell of a lot easier."

"Yeah..." Mistoffelees felt awkward having her in his den. The last time they were both here, they kissed. That was the burning issue that he wanted to talk about, of course. Now that Pouncival was better it seemed that any chance of them having a relationship was completely off-the-cards, but he still needed to find out. He carefully sat down on the cushion beside Tantomile, giving her another weak smile before looking into the fireplace.

"I like your den." She said to break the silence, feeling just as awkward as he did. That kiss had been unplanned, thoughtless and probably a very bad idea, but she could not pretend that it did not mean anything. It had been passionate and fiery. It made her feel unbelievably guilty. Needless to say, she did _not _want to talk about it. "So... uhm... you said you'd tell me about that thing you were doing?" What a weak excuse to see him. She did not care what he had been doing last night, she simply wanted to see her friend. She hoped he was still her friend.

"...sure." Mistoffelees rubbed his paws together and stared at the fire, considering for a moment that if it spread out of control he would not be able to do anything about it because of her collar **blocking his magic**-

He froze, deep in thought. Her **collar**. There was something about her **collar**, something important. Whatever he was trying to think of, whatever he kept almost realising or comprehending, it was to do with her **collar**. Of that much he was certain, but once again, as soon as the idea came to him it was gone. He sighed.

"We were burying Macavity." Mistoffelees turned to look at Tantomile, who reacted with a look of surprise. "That's what we were doing last night through to this morning, depending on how you look at it. By 'we', I mean myself, Munkustrap and Tugger. Alonzo briefly helped. Old Deuteronomy came by after we had done all the digging to wish his son farewell. I'm guessing Coricopat told you that he died."

"He did." Tantomile replied simply, though the news was no less shocking. It was not hard to understand why they had chosen to dispose of Macavity's body in the shadows of night, away from the prying eyes of the rest of the tribe, but the fact that they had buried him at all was a complete shock. She had hoped that they would just leave him in a backstreet for a Pollicle to devour. "You may not be surprised to hear that I am happy he is finally gone." She said simply, folding her arms and trying to find a comfortable way to sit on the cushion.

"As am I – as we all are." Mistoffelees nodded as he caught her gaze. Despite bearing the marks of that fight with Macavity, Tantomile looked remarkably better than she had done earlier that week. She appeared a lot healthier – clearly she had been eating properly since Pouncival's sudden apparent **happiness**. Another thought darted through Mistoffelees' mind about Pouncival, but this one he chose to ignore. He changed the topic slightly, moving from one passing to another. "Etcetera will be next."

Tantomile made a sad face and looked at the ground, averting her eyes from his. "She was beautiful." Tantomile said quietly, not knowing how else to possibly refer to the queen. Etcetera had been a vibrant kitten, one full of energy just like Pouncival. It was difficult to imagine the Junkyard without her loud giggle being an everyday fixture. "Things will be quieter." She mused, looking over at the burning fire.

"Her body will be laid to rest at the Jellicle Ball." Mistoffelees said calmly, choosing his words quite deliberately. Clearly he had been talking to Munkustrap. "There are plans for the Ball to be soon, in a week or so. Some say it may even be only a few days, though I doubt that." He glanced over at the fire as well, finding something oddly calming in its radiating warmth. "Munkustrap asked me if I thought she might somehow be chosen to be reborn. What do you think?"

Tantomile looked over at Mistoffelees. It was an interesting question. "Well... there is so much we still **do not know** about the spirit world. If you simply consider the things that myself and Coricopat have discovered during our lifetimes, the list goes on and on..." She trailed off slightly, remembering the collar. Tantomile lifted her paw to her neck and tapped it lightly, feeling the bright pink, studded collar reverberating under her touch. "But then, what do I know? I'm not a magical cat like you. Not anymore."

Mistoffelees swiftly got to his feet when he heard those words and marched over to Tantomile, sitting beside her. "Shut up." He said simply, wrapping his arm around her back and giving her a small squeeze. "You're the most magical of all of us. We'll figure out a way to get that collar off you, just give me some time, okay? It's only been a couple of days." He felt awkward hugging her, but this was important. Her identity was based around magic use, to have it taken away must have crushed her. "Don't focus on that. Tell me about Etcetera."

Tantomile sighed and accepted the embrace, though she did not reciprocate. She could not forget the kiss that they had shared a few days earlier, which only made this feel more awkward than it needed to. "I don't know." Tantomile replied calmly, shrugging her shoulders. "Our current understanding of spirits – and this is only a theory – is that outside of the rebirth that can be brought through the Jellicle Ball, spirits simply sort of... **hang around**, a bit. I don't know how else to describe it- hey, are you listening to me?" She snapped at Mistoffelees, who had been looking across the room, deep in thought again.

**Spirits hang around**. Sort of. A bit. There was something there. Something almost made a lot of sense in Mistoffelees' mind, though once again the thought was fleeting and he had to let it go. "Sorry." He said simply, turning back to look at Tantomile. "I was just... something. I'm not sure. Anyway, Etcetera... I was listening! I mean, if her spirit is still here, could she somehow be chosen by Old Deuteronomy? I guess we won't know until the Ball itself, but he sure as hell isn't choosing Macavity..."

"You can say that again, a hundred billion times over." Tantomile sighed gently as she looked at his paw. "This is awkward, isn't it." She said with a calm tone, which made Mistoffelees quickly pull away his arm from around her back. It was the elephant in the room that neither had commented on yet, but now the topic of conversation had been broached. They had to talk about it.

"I might as well just say it." Mistoffelees countered, folding his arms slightly defensively as he shifted on the cushion, turning to face his entire body towards Tantomile rather than the fire. "Did our kiss mean anything?"

There was a telling pause.

"That's a difficult question." Tantomile replied gently, mirroring Mistoffelees by turning her body to face him as well, though she also folded her arms. "Of course it meant something. Cats don't just _kiss_... there's always some kind of motivating factor." She was being almost clinical in her words, unconsciously using language to distance herself from the action.

Mistoffelees was not about to let that happen. "Well, look... this is hard for me. You know I've never been 'confrontational' or whatever, I used to be really, well, mouseybefore you and Coricopat came along." He scratched his arm nervously, trying to maintain some kind of eye-contact with Tantomile as he spoke. "But there's something I've got to tell you and I don't know if it can wait any longer."

Tantomile's eyes widened slightly and she shook her head, preempting his thoughts despite the loss of her psychic powers. "Oh... Misto, really think about what you want to say here, okay? Because you can't take back something once you've said it... so... so please don't say it, okay?"

But Mistoffelees had already committed in his mind. This was not something that he wanted to say – this was something that he _needed _to say. "I just... I've been thinking about you for forever. I didn't know what that meant for so long, to always be thinking about someone day and night, but after we kissed I realised what those feelings were, and Tantomile, I-"

"Misto, please don't say it-"

"I love you."

Tantomile's mouth was agape. She shook her head slightly, in complete shock and disbelief at the words that had come out of his mouth. Even if she had expected him to say it, that did not make it any less difficult to hear.

"So... so that's why I need to know if that's something you'd... if that's something where you could ever see a future where you're with me rather than Pouncival." Mistoffelees managed to say before completely losing eye-contact with her, looking down at the ground. He was fidgeting out of nervousness, though this had gone more or less as he had expected. Whenever he played out this scenario in his head, Tantomile said 'no'.

"No."

Tantomile sighed as she reached towards Mistoffelees, taking his paws into her own. "You're beautiful." She said calmly, moving closer to try and nuzzle his cheek. Mistoffelees reacted sadly, taking the affection and lifting his head to meet her gaze. "You're amazing and handsome and wonderful." Tantomile added, keeping that fixed gaze before letting out another sad sigh. "But I'm not in love with you. I'm sorry. Maybe before I considered that future... but you know that I love Pouncival more than anything else in this whole wide world. I do love you too, Misto... but not in that way."

"You're breaking my heart, you know that, right?" Mistoffelees spoke with a weak voice. Their tones had become very quiet, perhaps knowing that Pouncival was only in the adjoining den, not very far away at all. "It's not like I expected you to say anything different or anything... I just figured there was a chance. However slim or tiny that chance was, I figured it was worth it. I would play this lottery a million times if I thought there was a chance you might say 'yes' once."

Tantomile felt the tears welling in her eyes as she heard him speak, sounding so poetic when he talked about her. "I..." She started, but found herself momentarily unable to continue. She squeezed his paws tightly, keeping that fixed gaze before speaking up again. "Pounce is better, so much better. He's struggling with Tumblebrutus being back, but Misto... he's happy again. You know I can't leave him. Not now that he's so vibrant, it would devastate him. Maybe part of me wants to say 'yes' to you... but you know that's not our story. Not this time." She felt the teardrops begin to roll down her cheeks as she spoke, the words choking her throat. "Just promise me there's a way we could remain friends... please, tell me some way."

"...Tantomile." Mistoffelees said firmly, holding back tears of his own as he watched her cry. "Whatever happens in this impossible world, I can promise you categorically that we will always be friends. Even if I'm not always around, we can be friends." Tantomile tried to interject, to question what he just said, but Mistoffelees spoke over her. "Let's just meet up like this, once a week. No matter what, this time each week, you and me meet up together. Alone."

Tantomile had a hundred thoughts racing through her head at his words – what did he mean, 'not always around'? She wanted to comment on it, but first she had to reassure him. "I promise." She responded to his request, which she understood. Having to see her with Pouncival must have been hard for Mistoffelees, so wanting the occasional alone time was not much to ask. But now, back to that comment. "What did you mean-"

"**HEY.**"

A loud voice boomed from the door as it swung open. Tugger was standing there, panting. He looked as though he had just run a marathon, though in truth he had only sprinted from the adjoining den. "Both of you, come now. Come quickly." He took a couple of breaths then continued, just getting out the important words: "Pouncival... he's lost it... angry, shouting, screaming... he needs you _now_."

Needless to say, all three cats stormed back to Munkustrap's den faster than any had run before. The adrenaline that soared through Tantomile's body belied any injury she might have suffered from Macavity's attack as she desperately fought to get back to her mate. He needed her. This could not be happening. Not now. It wasn't fair. This wasn't fair.

Tugger briefly filled them in on what had happened (or at least, what he had been told) as they dashed back to the den, but in order to get the full story of what had happened, it would make more sense to go back to a different part of this story – to look at how events unfolded in that upstairs room inhabited by Pouncival, Coricopat and Tumblebrutus – to look at what happened after Tantomile left.

The initial pain felt like a dull throb. It started mere moments after Tantomile left the room, but Pouncival assumed that it was only a headache and ignored it. He had been sitting comfortably across from Tumblebrutus, quietly teasing Coricopat about being "too pretty". Now he was completely silent, but for the small sound that escaped from his lips. It was like a soft moan, but it did not contain any ounce of pleasure. This was a sound of pain.

Coricopat shot across the room almost on instinct to lift Pouncival's chin and look into his eyes. "You alright over here?" He asked simply, glancing at the tom. He had a pained expression, which told Coricopat the whole story. "What is it? A headache? I can try and calm you if you like, we need you to focus on staying away from those thoughts, okay Pounce? You just told us both you were going to try harder."

But no amount of trying would save Pouncival from the pain that was about to hit him. It struck him like something he had never felt before, he could only imagine this was what being stabbed in the head felt like. His paws shot up to his forehead and pressed firmly, the pained expression turning into something fiercer as he clenched his eyes shut tightly, letting out a small whimper. He did not want to scream. He wanted to stay strong.

Unfortunately for Pouncival, Coricopat was not buying it. This was all too convenient. "Okay, Pounce, this is not trying harder." He felt it was time for some tough love. Pouncival had been doing so well over the past two days, to throw it all away now would be too terrible. "You do not need to be upset because Tantomile is not beside you. I am here, you said you liked me." He tried to be light-hearted, but it was not registering. Time for the hard facts, then. "You cannot do this, Pounce. Tantomile cannot be by your side every second of the day, you are being unfair to her and me."

But Pouncival simply shuddered and jammed his palms into his forehead, trying to make the pain stop. "The voices have come back." He managed to spit out the words through an agony so fierce he could not describe it. "They're louder, Cori, they're louder than ever, they hurt so much more oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck-" He started pounding his palms into his head, actually hitting himself quite hard after a few moments.

"Okay, stop." Coricopat said briskly as he pulled Pouncival's paws away, not wanting to see the tom hurt himself. He decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, though it was hard to show sympathy when he knew that could be the catalyst that saw Pouncival regress to his previous mental state. This was no good. "Don't move." Coricopat stated with his trademark stoic voice, leaning in closer to press his forehead against Pouncival's. He shut his eyes, unlocking his mystic power to read minds.

But there were no voices to be found, or at least, none other than the usual meager noises that occupied Pouncival's mind. Nothing had changed since the last time he did this, he was forced to conclude that this was all an act. "Pouncival." Coricopat stated as he pulled away, opening his eyes whilst keeping his paws tightly around the tom's wrists. "There's nothing different. I know you are putting this on, trying to get attention for whatever reason. This must stop _now_. I cannot care for you if you are going to lie."

But, as has been made abundantly clear, Pouncival was not lying.

The voices were too great. More voices than ever before made Pouncival's head too difficult for him to even think, he could not comprehend any of Coricopat's words as the noises manifested themselves into anger. Pouncival spat at the tom opposite him, struggling before managing to pull his paws away. In that heated second of anger he lashed out at Coricopat, laying a streak of slashes across the tom's chest.

But in that moment, something else terrible happened. For it had only been two days since Macavity's invasion, only two days since Coricopat was literally fighting for his life. With those thoughts still so fresh and raw in the tom's subconscious, his gut reaction to the pain could not have been worse – he swung an instinctive set of claws at Pouncival's face, striking him viciously across the cheek to leave four clear slices.

"Pounce... oh fuck, Pounce I'm so sorry-" Coricopat tried to say as his senses returned to him, but it was too late – the damage had been done. Blood trickled down from the four clear cuts, staining cream fur red. Tears began to slide down Coricopat's cheeks as he started crying at his actions, shuddering and shaking in absolute fear of himself. He became a monster in his own mind. He had attacked a mentally ill cat he was caring for.

Coricopat tried to desperately hug Pouncival, but the smaller tom pushed him away, cowering away from him. As both cats stared at each other in disbelief, both in a severely weakened mental state after that terrible moment, the sound of the door opening was not even heard by either tom. For all of that shouting had drawn attention from another cat who occupied the den – Munkustrap.

"...what the hell is going on?" Munkustrap asked as he entered the room, moving across to stand between Pouncival and Coricopat. The sight of fresh blood on both cats disturbed him, clearly they had got into some kind of scrap, but why? They both looked disturbed by his presence, though Coricopat was the first to speak, a garbled set of words apologising through his tears. Munkustrap looked at the tom with a confused expression, shaking his head before turning to Pouncival.

But the fear in Pouncival's mind had turned back into anger. He let out a fierce growl and hissed at Munkustrap, who briefly stepped back in shock. What was going on here? Had Pouncival lost his mind... again? The silver tom placed his paws gently on Pouncival's shoulders and looked him directly in the eyes. "Calm down." He used his most relaxed tone to speak to the young tom, but it was of no use. "There is no need for this. Calm down and we can talk-"

But there was to be no more talking. Pouncival reacted badly to the paws on his shoulders, seeing them as a threat in this mental state. The voices were pounding in his head, mixing up his thoughts. With no ability to understand what was going on around him, Pouncival had turned feral. He leapt forward and struck his claws across Munkustrap's chest, taking the tom by surprise and almost earning another slash across the face – though Munkustrap was able to control himself better than Coricopat had.

Instead of attacking Pouncival, Munkustrap simply grabbed the tom's arm and twisted it behind his back before pushing him flat against the wall. Pouncival growled and hissed fiercely, but found himself completely immobilised by Munkustrap's hold. It could only be described as fortunate that Tugger took this opportunity to enter the room, reacting to the strange sounds coming from within.

"Get Tantomile!" Coricopat quickly exclaimed to Tugger, trying to wipe away the tears from his eyes. "Pounce is... he's gone. I don't know, I... please Tugger, just get my sister. She's with Mistoffelees next door..." Coricopat tried to explain, but Munkustrap put a full stop on the point by shouting: "_Now._"

And so, Tugger ran to Mistoffelees' den and told both cats what was going on. It did not take them very long at all to get back to the room, where Tantomile was greeted by a sight she never wanted to see.

She quickly dashed across the room to Pouncival, looking at him with a real sadness in her eyes as Munkustrap held him up against the wall. "Oh... Pounce..." Tantomile cooed as she reached out to stroke his cheek. "Please calm down..." She was in tears, completely distraught by this terrible sight.

Pouncival calmed down.

In fact, his breathing had slowed almost the moment that Tantomile entered the den. After she stroked his face, he drew a series of deep breaths and felt everything calm. "They stopped..." He managed to say as the emotions dissipated, the anger fading away into relief. "The voices stopped."

"That's not fucking good enough." Munkustrap snapped as he released Pouncival, who more or less fell into Tantomile's arms. She squeezed him tightly as he looked up at her, though anger built inside her as well upon seeing his face. "What have you done to him!" She exclaimed, holding Pouncival very close against her. She glared at Munkustrap. "His face! Why would you hurt him like this?"

Munkustrap shot her a look of frustration and threw his arms in the air theatrically. "I did no such thing." He snapped, pointing at Pouncival. "This can never happen again. Whatever happened here can never, ever happen again."

"It was me." Munkustrap was interrupted by Coricopat, who had managed to pull himself together and swiftly moved across the den towards his sister and her mate. "I hit him. I didn't mean to, it's just after Macavity attacked I've been so on edge and then he just attacked me out of nowhere, he snapped Tantomile, he completely snapped and I just hit back, oh Pounce I'm so, so sorry..." Coricopat tried to hug the tom, but Tantomile protectively pulled him away and against her.

"It's okay, Cori." A small voice came from Pouncival's mouth as he looked at the mystic tom. "You didn't mean it... but... but it's okay because they've stopped now, the voices have stopped again." He released Tantomile and stepped towards Coricopat, hugging him gently. Tantomile moved closer and joined the hug, though still keeping more towards her mate than her brother. Pouncival spoke up again, offering some solace in his words: "I don't feel broken anymore, I feel okay, I'm exhausted but I feel okay..."

"Stop it." Munkustrap snapped again as he stepped forwards, breaking up the hug. Tugger stood beside Munkustrap, allowing him to speak. "This cannot continue." Munkustrap spoke with an adamant tone, a very dominant voice. "These are the signs my brother showed... that Macavity showed before he flipped. We did not remove one threat just to watch another emerge."

Tantomile immediately shook her head, again showing some kind of inherent premonition as she expected the next words that came from Munkustrap's mouth before he said them.

"This will not go that way." Munkustrap showed his dominance by standing tall, reiterating his role as protector through the words that he used and the powerful tone that came from his voice. "I need to speak to my father, to question some possibilities."

Tantomile was shaking her head desperately. She wrapped a protective arm around Pouncival, glaring at Munkustrap with a fierce look in her eyes. He would not dare say what was on his mind, surely not.

And yet Munkustrap did. "Would you three have anywhere else to go if you were no longer able to stay here, in this Junkyard, with this tribe?"

"Are you fucking kidding me?" A voice yelled from across the room. Every cat turned to see Mistoffelees storming towards them – he had been standing perfectly quietly in the corner, simply watching and listening to what they had to say, hoping that something would click in his head. But this... this had gone far enough. "You will never do such a thing!" He screamed at Munkustrap, moving to stand between the silver tom and the other cats.

"This is none of your concern-" Munkustrap started to say, but Tugger placed a paw on his brother's shoulder before interrupting him. "C'mon, Munks... the kit's right. I remember that shit with Mac like it was yesterday, trying to send them away ain't the answer and you know that. If you'd let him speak, I'm sure li'l Sparkles would've told you it's all about love and caring and compassion and junk like that."

It was things like that that made Mistoffelees admire Tugger like an older brother. He knew just what to say, and somehow managed to say it with a poetry that belied his street-cat voice. "If this kit over here-" Tugger said as he pointed at Pouncival. "This awesome, sexy dude right here, is gonna have any chance, it's gonna take some lovin'. And I ain't talking the kind of lovin' that me and Sparkles get up to sometimes. I'm talking the kind with hugs and kisses and shit. I'm talking-"

"Hey." Pouncival snapped, speaking loud enough that Tugger stopped talking. Everyone turned to look at him, giving him a moment to say whatever it was he wanted to say. "I'm fine. I feel fine." He patted his cheek gently, feeling the blood take to his paw. Tantomile immediately hugged Pouncival very tightly indeed, but it did not stop him from speaking up. "Okay, my face hurts from this, but I'm really fine. My head doesn't hurt anymore, the voices have stopped, I don't know why the voices came back when Tantomile left, they were worse than ever, but they're gone now! I'm fine, completely fine, Munkustrap I'm not Macavity, I'm not evil and I'm not magic-"

Magic.

**Magic.**

**MAGIC.**

"Pouncival." Mistoffelees spoke suddenly, lifting his paw to usher the tom to stop. "Pounce, you're..." He continued, lost for words as all of those thoughts from earlier came rushing back into his head. "You're... no. No!" He turned to Tantomile suddenly, stepping forward and reaching for her neck. He touched the pink collar briefly, earning a flinch from her, before turning back to address Pouncival directly.

"You're wrong." Mistoffelees said with a remarkable confidence fueled by the thoughts that were racing in his head. "You're wrong, Pounce, because you..." Wait.

Mistoffelees had to make a decision.

He had realised something, something terribly important. Something with the potential power to change the lives of at least half the cats in this room. Something that would completely change the life of one cat in particular – _him_. For if he revealed what he now believed to be true, that would be it. The possibility of life with Tantomile, which had momentarily seemed plausible after this episode, would be forever gone just as she had told him less than an hour earlier. Mistoffelees had to make a decision about who he wanted to be, about who he believed himself to be. Was he the good guy in all of this? Was he the hero that he had always wanted to be?

"You _are_ magic."

It seemed Mistoffelees was the hero he wanted to be, after all.

The room stopped to question the words that had just come out of Mistoffelees' mouth, as they did not seem to make any kind of sense. Fortunately for them, nobody would be kept waiting.

Mistoffelees never liked cliffhangers anyway.

"Okay." He started, drawing in a deep breath. "Here's what I think, and then I'll tell you why. Pounce, you're a mystic. You can hear voices... voices of _spirits_. Because you were hurt before, because you were unstable or slightly unwell before, nobody picked up on this. You always had voices in your head, right? So everyone assumed they were getting worse. But what if they were wrong? What if you weren't ill after all – Pounce, tell me now and really think about it, when was the first time the voices got worse?"

Pouncival was desperate for this to continue. He was a mystic? That could not be possible. He had never been anything other than just... him! But hearing spirit voices? How could this be? "I... they kept getting worse." Pouncival managed to say after a moment's thought. It would be fair to say that every (conscious) cat in that room was hanging on his every word, giving him the moment to think. "The first time they got louder... I remember. It was a while ago. Almost six years."

"Okay." Mistoffelees repeated as he looked around the room. "Everyone... this is really important. Think back six years ago. Because if I'm right... and I really, really hope I'm right... someone died six years ago. Did a Jellicle die six years ago? Not to be reborn, not as part of the Ball, simply... passing away? Pounce – is there anything else you remember about it?"

Everyone started thinking. Pouncival looked up at the ceiling as he tried to remember specifics, though his gaze ultimately moved to look at Tumblebrutus unconscious on the bed. "It's the reason I stopped sleeping alone... I mean... I was alone." He said simply, keeping his eyes fixed on his brother. "We used to sleep next to each other on separate beds. But this night... he wasn't there. They had gone out – him, Dad... I wasn't with them. I was too scared, I... by the time they came back, there was a voice that was louder than anything before. It was too loud, it hurt, I... Tumble made everything better. He... we..." He trailed off. Pouncival did not need to finish that sentence, it was clear from his earlier words that from that night on, Tumblebrutus had stayed with him every night to make sleep easier – well, barring the nights Pouncival spent with Tantomile a few years later, at least.

"Gus died."

Everyone turned their attention to Tugger, who was keeping his focus directly on Pouncival. "Gus, the Theatre Cat. Or Asparagus, depending on how long ago you knew him. Maybe six years ago, he collapsed. Some of us went over to talk to him that night, our Dad spent the evening with him until his passed away."

Mistoffelees breathed a sigh of relief. He was on the right track. But he needed more proof for his theory to be right, that could simply be a coincidence. "Okay, Pounce... when was the next time they got worse?" It was a simple question, and one that Pouncival expected. He shook his head and turned to face Mistoffelees. "Five years ago. Like... a month before I started dating Tants." She squeezed him tightly as a reward for using her nickname and being brave to speak about this so openly. Needless to say, Tantomile's heart was in her mouth as Mistoffelees spoke, simply hoping that something good would come of this.

"There was that stray that wandered in." Coricopat stated, causing Mistoffelees to glance back at him. "He had a heart attack, or at least, that is what we assumed. I'm not sure exactly how long it has been, but if I had to guess, I would say it was around a month or so before Tantomile and Pouncival got together."

Mistoffelees was unsure how to deal with that information. His original thought was tied more to family and the tribe itself, but perhaps he had to change it to something more... geographic. "Does that make any sense to you, Pounce? Think about it for a moment... remember when that stray cat collapsed in the 'yard?"

Pouncival shook his head. "No. I was with Jenny... uh... my mother... that day." There were reasons that Pouncival corrected himself, though he did not bother explaining them. He doubted that any of the cats there apart from Tantomile would understand why it was important for him to call her that. "I was in the infirmary all day. I just remember it suddenly getting worse... no, wait! You're right!" His words seemed to surprise himself. "I remember. I was lying on a bed, it hurt really bad... but then they brought in this tom and he wasn't moving..."

Mistoffelees nodded again. "This is good, Pounce. This is really good, in fact." But he still needed more proof before he could be sure. Right now, this could still be an unbelievable coincidence. "The next time, Pounce. Tell me about the next time the voices got worse-"

"Is this really necessary?" Tantomile asked suddenly, shooting a glare at Mistoffelees. Pouncival was quite visibly upset talking about this, and it made her feel awful as well. Besides all of that, she had spoken to him about the voices in his head before, and she knew the next time they got worse. Pouncival did not need to relive that. "We both know the answer to that."

"But do we?" Mistoffelees countered, approaching Pouncival and staring the tom directly in the eyes. "Really think about it, Pounce. I know it's hard or whatever but really just think. When did they get worse? Was it all at once? Separate? Can you remember actually physically feeling them worsen?" His words drew tears from Pouncival's eyes and Tantomile tried to interject again, but Mistoffelees' question was answered.

"It was immediate." Pouncival said quietly, which again caused everyone to listen. "The second after Macavity cut my mother's throat, the voices got louder. I remember pressing my palm into my head right there in that room, when everything else was going on." He shuddered, not wanting to relive the memories anymore. "It got worse when she died and then... then it got worse when Dad died, too. Both times it got louder, both times it hurt more."

"I'm sorry for making you think about that." Mistoffelees responded with a calm tone. "You said that the voices were **worse than ever **now, right?" He could not believe the cuts that were on Pouncival's face. To think that had happened in the short time Tantomile was not in the den... "This is really, really important now. You think that right now they're worse? How much worse?"

"Horribly worse." Pouncival replied, breaking gaze and glancing down at the floor. "I get what you're trying to do for me, Misto, but it doesn't make sense. Maybe before it did, but... they were really, really bad this time. Way worse than ever before, not a jump up like it had ever been, they were terrible. I couldn't think, I literally couldn't think of anything, I couldn't use words or do anything, I didn't even know what I was doing..."

"That's because two cats have died, and one of them was a very powerful mage." Mistoffelees said with that same calm tone he had borrowed from Munkustrap. "Etcetera and Macavity both passed away since you last heard the voices. They got worse the moment both of them died – you just didn't realise because... and this is the most important thing of all of this..." He pointed to Tantomile. "You only heard them **the moment Tantomile was not around**."

"The first thing that struck me as strange was when you woke up this morning with tears in your eyes." Mistoffelees continued, not wanting to break his stride. "You said that **you had a nightmare**, which was odd because Tantomile kept telling me how much better you have been the past few days – then I remembered that **she left your side last night**."

"We were talking about a whole bunch of things earlier, but by utter coincidence Tantomile said something else that made me stop and think." Mistoffelees was starting to enjoy this a little bit. He was not the only cat there smiling, though – Tugger was absolutely transfixed by the showmanship involved in this, it was like watching a performance. It had been a while since he had seen the Magical Mr. Mistoffelees show such enthusiasm.

"So I'll go back to what I was saying before. You are **a magic cat**." Mistoffelees announced the revelation to the room, though he was met with a measure of silence. "You can hear the voices of those that pass away outside of the Jellicle Ball. At the Ball, they're reborn, but outside of that... **we just don't know**. Tantomile reminded me that we just have no idea how the spirit world works, only that we can contact it every now and again. Mystics can control those voices – but what if there is one mystic, say every generation, who immediately** hears the voices **of those that die?"

He continued. "You didn't know about magic as a kitten and you always heard noises in your head. To anyone else, and I'm really sorry to be saying this, it just seemed like your mental problems were getting worse. But what if they weren't getting worse? But **what if they weren't problems? **What if you were simply hearing something – the voices of those that have passed? What if **whenever a cat dies, their voices join those in your head**, but because it's a kind of magic we don't quite understand, we could never see or hear them ourselves?"

To say that everyone was shocked would be an understatement. Tugger immediately tried to start a round of applause, though nobody joined in and he tried to play it off as though he was simply trying to vigorously swat a fly. Munkustrap was still stood with his arms folded, the twins looked somewhat skeptical... but Pouncival looked positively excited.

"...you're like, a really, really good _Detective Pounce_!" Pouncival exclaimed, again to no reaction. "What, nobody gets that reference? If Tumble was awake, he would have laughed so hard at that-" He turned sharply to look over Tumblebrutus' body, but the tom remained unconscious and hardly breathing. "...just checking... but wait, why Tantomile?" Pouncival asked, turning sharply to look at Mistoffelees. "You said she makes it stop hurting, but why her?"

Mistoffelees shook his head as he smirked. "No, I did not." He approached Tantomile again and turned to face the room before placing his paw on her shoulder. "The ridiculous bright-pink studded collar around her neck – the one that Macavity put there to stop her from being able to use magic again – is putting out a field stopping anyone around her from using magic either. Right now, Coricopat cannot read minds, I cannot conjure anything. The collar didn't effect Macavity because his powers overturned it, but all of us... it is my belief that you, Pounce, are also being effected."

Pouncival tried to speak, but Mistoffelees sharply released Tantomile and turned to the small tom, moving closer and placing his paws on Pouncival's shoulders. "It gets better, Pounce. **You're not ill.** Every time someone has told you that they've been **wrong**. You've simply had an impossible time trying to cope with unending voices pounding in your head, but so long as you're with Tantomile – or more specifically **that collar **– you'll be fine. **No more voices**. I'm sure of it and, Munkustrap-" Mistoffelees turned to face the silver tom, releasing Pouncival and folding his arms. "If this is all true, will you take back what you said? If this is all true, will you let them all stay?"

It should be said that at this point, Tantomile and Coricopat both hugged Pouncival very tightly. Mistoffelees' logic was sound and it made the group happy, it explained away all of the pain and provided an answer for something they had never been able to understand. Tantomile was showing an expression of shock at all of this, but inside she felt a ball of happiness. This was incredible. If this was correct... there would be no more crying. They could have the future that she wanted.

Munkustrap had been standing with folded arms for the entirety of Mistoffelees' speech. It would be unfair to say that he did not understand, though he was unconvinced despite all of the evidence. "_If _you're right... if it is provable that Pouncival is not mentally ill... then I see no reason why not." Munkustrap nodded before fixing a sharp gaze on Mistoffelees. "But if you are wrong, then that's it. I have already made up my mind. Tantomile... if you would not mind leaving the room for a moment?"

Tantomile's eyes widened as she looked at Munkustrap and shook her head suddenly. "No- are you- what?" That request did not make any sense to her. If Mistoffelees was correct with everything he said, then leaving the room would surely make Pouncival feel that agony again. She never wanted him to feel that pain so long as she lived. "I... I can't hurt him, Munkustrap-"

"It's okay." Pouncival turned to Tantomile and gave her a small hug. He had a smile on his face, signaling the relief that he was beginning to feel at these revelations. To be told that he was not ill, that there was nothing wrong with him, it was the thing of dreams. And Tantomile must have known that. "One last time." Pouncival said, before breaking the hug. "If he's right and I hear the voices again... well... then we know what it is for sure. And then we have another reason to always be together."

Munkustrap watched them both and flashed Tantomile a look, which made Tugger (of all toms) spring into action. He approached the queen and reached out for her paw, which after a brief moment she begrudgingly took. "There y'are, love." Tugger smirked and wrapped his arm around her, giving Tantomile some support. The cuts that covered his body would surely have hurt at this physical contact, but there was something going on here far more important than some physical pain – _Tugger got to be an assistant in a Mistoffelees performance. _There was probably something else important going on here too, but he found it hard to focus on more than one thing at a time.

As he helped her out of the room, Coricopat wrapped his arms around Pouncival in a sharp hug. He began to slink down to the floor, dragging Pouncival down with him and holding him tightly against his chest. It was a moment of protection and adoration, with his arms completely enveloping Pouncival's small frame. The tom's face buried in his neck, and in that moment of comfort Pouncival felt himself begin to cry. There was something about being held so tenderly – or indeed, in such an utterly protective way – that made him miss his parents terribly. Coricopat simply wanted to make sure that when the voices did come back (and at this point, he was convinced that Mistoffelees was correct), he was on hand to minimise Pouncival's suffering.

At the other end of the spectrum, the second Tugger and Tantomile left the room, Mistoffelees stepped up to Munkustrap and snarled at him, causing the silver tom to step back in absolute surprise. "Even if I'm wrong." Mistoffelees stated firmly. "I just want you to know there's no way you're ever sending my friends away from here." A low growl poured from his lips, proof that this was no empty threat.

Munkustrap took a moment to consider his actions before stepping forward as well, in a sudden movement reaching forward and gripping Mistoffelees by the collar. "You what?" He responded with a similar growl, standing tall and dominant over the smaller tom. "You fucking what? You don't decide what's best for this tribe, that burden falls on me. And I swear to the Everlasting Cat, you'd better be right, because I will go through with my promise."

"I'd sooner die." Mistoffelees responded firmly as Munkustrap released him, the two toms staring each other down.

Outside the room, Tantomile and Tugger were both slowly walking down the hallway.

They did not speak, for Tantomile had no words to give him. Equally, Tugger really did not know what to say either. Though he was playing this off as all being for a magic trick, _really _he did know that there was something big going on. He knew that Tantomile was essentially willingly hurting the cat that she loved in order to prove that he was not sick. And that must have been difficult for her – certainly he could not imagine having to harm Bombalurina in a similar way. He tried to empathise with Tantomile by thinking about hurting her, if that made any sense at all, before deciding that simple words of encouragement might be the best thing to say. "Hang in there, kid."

Oddly, that was probably the perfect thing for him to say. Coupled with the things he had said about Pouncival earlier, Tantomile discovered a newfound respect for the Rum Tum Tugger and rested her head gently against his shoulder as they walked, mouthing a quiet "thank you" before finding a smile forming on her lips.

_'Please, Pounce.' _She thought to herself, knowing that he could not hear her. _'Just scream. If you scream because your head hurts, then you're better. If it starts hurting you, this will all end for good. Please be better, Pounce. Please let Misto be right. Please let this end, let all this suffering end.' _She looked up as they made it to the stairs and slowly began to work their way down them. Tantomile inadvertently let the next few words slip out of her mouth, such was her heightened emotion. "For fuck's sake, Pounce, is this really too much to ask-"

It wasn't.

Pouncival let out a scream so loud that half of the Junkyard must have heard it. Perhaps a little... theatrical... but deep-rooted in real physical agony. It was pained and harrowed, of course he had been planning to scream, but suddenly allowing all of that pain out produced something even he did not expect. To provide some context – the moment Tugger and Tantomile made it halfway down the stairs, it felt as though someone had slipped a knife through his ear and deep into his head. It was terrible.

Of course, the moment that sound pierced Tantomile's ears, she and Tugger darted up the stairs like cheetahs. They both burst into the room, to find Pouncival sobbing into Coricopat's neck. Tantomile dropped to the ground and reached out to hug her mate, who gratefully accepted and held onto her tightly. Coricopat readjusted and rubbed his chest slightly, bearing the fresh wounds of Pouncival's earlier attack.

Munkustrap stepped forward and looked at the group. Pouncival quietly confirmed that the voices came and went in a moment, which was enough for the silver tom. "The collar is clearly the thing keeping the voices out of Pouncival's head." Munkustrap stated firmly. Tugger swiftly told him that they made it to the stairs, which allowed Munkustrap to continue. "In order to be safe, you two must never be less than five footsteps of one another for the rest of... well, your lives. Is everyone agreed?"

A moment passed. The ruling was perhaps unnecessary as with this knowledge, neither Tantomile nor Pouncival had any interest in being one footstep apart, let alone five. But not everyone in the room shared that same passion for his statement. In fact, Munkustrap's words only served to make one tom rather irate, who took to his feet and stood toe-to-toe with the protector.

"Or, you could just go fuck yourself." Coricopat spat as he stood tall. Munkustrap was shocked just as before to see this kind of response and tried to ask what he was talking about, but Coricopat simply pushed him back. "You were so prepared to just throw us out on the street only fifteen minutes ago. If you were so happy to get rid of us, you won't miss us when we're gone. Clearly we have no business being Jellicles anymore."

Coricopat glanced back at Tantomile and Pouncival, who were more or less consoling one another. They were listening, but Tantomile knew her first priority was to calm Pouncival down and brush away his tears. Coricopat simply glared at Munkustrap and continued. "For the entirety of my life here, I have shown you nothing but respect. But then the moment it was your turn to do something for me, _well_. It was just too hard. You just could not be fucked."

"Why the hell do you think Macavity disappeared for two years?" Munkustrap snapped, glaring at Coricopat. A silence fell at his words, which he silently regretted. "I have done everything in my power to help you every single time I could. I suffered terribly at Macavity's paws time and time again to protect this tribe, to protect _you_. Just because I do not announce everything I do to protect this place, do not presume for one second that I do not love each and every one of you."

That was something Coricopat had not expected. But then, he also did not expect the voice that echoed from behind him.

"Do I even get a say in this?!" Pouncival yelled.

Once again he became the centre of attention, getting to his feet with Tantomile and turning to address the room. "For the first time in forever everything is starting to make sense. Misto is right! I mean, _I'm not ill. _I... I don't want to leave here, Cori." He shook his head and folded his arms sternly. "I've only ever lived here, my parents grew up here and one day... well... if I'm better, if I'm _not ill_... well one day I want to have kittens of my own here. I'm a Jellicle. I'll always be a Jellicle." He turned to Munkustrap, his words ringing true. "I love you, too. I love all of you. I can't imagine a life without any of you, so please don't try and take any of this away from me."

Munkustrap nodded. "Good." He said with a half-smile, before turning and calmly leaving the room. Tugger watched his brother go and gave everyone a thumbs-up before taking his leave also, content that he had been the best magician's assistant _of all time_. Mistoffelees was next to try and head out the door, but this was not proved so easy as Pouncival suddenly leapt in front of him.

"So, here's the thing." Pouncival said with a sheepish expression, almost looking away from Mistoffelees despite trying to confront him. "All my whole entire life everyone has thought I was crazy. My family, Tumble, Cori, hell... even Tants...everyone has always thought I was crazy but you never have." It was a difficult thing to say, but Pouncival felt it was important. He managed to look up and make some kind of eye-contact. "You just thought I had it rough when my parents died. And you kept treating me like a real cat forever, even though you probably had loads of reasons to ignore me like everyone else. For the first time in forever, someone stood up for me like I was a real, normal, sane feline who isn't crazy. So... thank you for being the greatest, most unbelievably incredible friend in the whole wide world."

Pouncival reached forwards and wrapped his arms around Mistoffelees, giving him a small hug. But Mistoffelees froze up, not reciprocating at all. This was difficult for him. Everything that he had said was the right thing to say, he felt good for saying it... but in doing so, he knew he had thrown away his one chance of being with Tantomile. And as that began to sink in, things just started to feel... numb. As Pouncival released him and returned to the twins for hugs and smiles, Mistoffelees began to slink towards the door.

But then he stopped. "I'm not a good friend." Mistoffelees said quietly, which made all three cats turn to look at him as though he was crazy. "Just so you know. I'm not a good friend." He was stood at the doorway, ready to leave. Things would be so simple if he just left now, left forever, left for good. But he could not do that without at least telling them. And there was no way to tell them without saying something else: "I'm in love with Tantomile."

It said something about their similarities that both Coricopat and Pouncival reacted in exactly the same way that Tantomile had responded to that news earlier – with gaping mouths.

"I can't be your friend." Mistoffelees continued, though he looked as though he was about to cry. "I can't stay here anymore. I... I'm so glad that you're going to be able to be happy, Pouncival. You too, Tants, I... I'm glad that you're all going to be able to be happy. But you're just going to have to do that without me, because I can't bear to see you be happy. I can't stay here anymore."

Tantomile tried to interject, but Mistoffelees was caught up in his own mind. These words were ones that he wanted to say before, but now that everything had been taken away from him by his own paw, it just made things feel worse. Never had being the good guy created such an awful feeling. "You don't understand." He said simply, shaking his head. "I love you too much. It's gotten unbearable. Before when it was bad, I still kept thinking that there was a chance for us, that Pouncival might never get better. I know that's a horrible thing to say, but it's true. Now there's no chance for us because so long as he's with you, he'll always be fine. Macavity was the last cat alive who could make that collar, who had the ability to block magic. Now that he's gone... this is it. You have to be with him forever at all times. There's no world where I could see you, where we could meet and talk like you promised. All that's left is a world where I am forced to see you two together and that's a world I can't be a part of. I'm sorry."

Silence fell across the den. Pouncival spoke up as he watched a set of tears fall down Mistoffelees' cheeks, and heard a quite audible sob come from Tantomile's lips. "But you helped me." Pouncival said quietly. "Why would you help me? You could have just said nothing. You didn't have to do this."

Mistoffelees sighed. "I guess that's why love is really, really fucking stupid." And with that, he turned to leave.

But Pouncival was not about to let that happen. He dashed forward and grabbed Mistoffelees' arm, stopping the tom from leaving.

"You saved my life." Pouncival stared directly at Mistoffelees. "You don't get to pretend that you did this for Tants. You don't get to pretend that, because you stood up for me just then like nobody else ever has. When they left the room, you stood up to Munkustrap, you were going to fight him if he tried to get rid of me I _saw it_. Everyone else I ever knew had given up on me ever being better. But you didn't give up on me. You thought I could still be sane and normal and you knew that I wasn't crazy." He pulled Mistoffelees a little bit closer, still holding his arm very tightly.

"I can't do this." Mistoffelees said quietly, looking down and away from Pouncival's gaze.

Pouncival shook his head. "You can't do this? Are you kidding me?" He placed Mistoffelees' paw on his chest. His heart was racing. "Feel that? Listen to me, if anyone here can't do this, it's me. My parents are dead, my friends all abandoned me years ago. The only cats left who care for me are Tants and Cori... suddenly you appeared and cared for me and I can't deal with not having you here."

Mistoffelees pulled his paw away. "I'm sorry Pouncival, I'm so-"

"You can call me Pounce."

"...I'm sorry, Pouncival." Mistoffelees managed to pull himself away from Pouncival's grip. "But you don't understand. I'm hopelessly, worthlessly, desperately in love with Tantomile. I love her so terribly much that I can't-"

"Misto." Tantomile spoke as she approached as well. "You can't be serious with all of this. Today is a good day. Please don't sour it by-"

"No." Mistoffelees pulled the door open, stepping back so that Pouncival could not grab him again. "You don't get to decide how I feel. I hope that you both find incredible happiness with each other and never again feel sad but there's absolutely no way I can stay here, there's no way I can be close to either of you ever again." And with that, he left.

Coricopat offered a hug to both Tantomile and Pouncival, who took it. Tantomile started to cry, feeling a moment of utter dejection at the loss of her close friend. Her heart was breaking...

...when the door opened again.

Mistoffelees re-entered the room, walked forward and stopped in front of them, shivering.

Pouncival turned and hugged him tightly, swiftly joined by Tantomile and Coricopat.

"It's okay." Pouncival whispered. "You're okay."


End file.
